


Shattered Feelings

by Arosz



Category: RWBY
Genre: Attempting to fix RWBY's many MANY flaws (lord help me), Character Study, F/F, F/M, Humor, M/M, Self-Insert, Slow Burn, Undecided Relationship(s), Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-08-14 08:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 47,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16489334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arosz/pseuds/Arosz
Summary: Viewed through a screen, the world of Remnant was simple but enthralling. In reality, it’s much, much more complicated and dangerous. Former shut-in Areyn Jet has her hands full just trying to stay alive, let alone deal with all the Huntsmen crap that came with RWBY. (OC-Insert, Self-Insert)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY

**_The connection between reality and the mind can often seem so fragile—then is it any wonder that we only seem to grasp onto our feelings?_ **

* * *

 

_Do You Hate Your Life?!_

_Sign Here!_

 

For the record, Areyn Jet wasn’t an idiot, far from it. She _knew_ the waiver in her stupid cluttered gmail inbox was just the newest internet trend going around.

That didn’t mean it didn’t amuse her though.

For the shut-in seventeen year old, it was the most relatable thing she’d seen outside of fucking _isekai_ _anime_ in a very long time.

Areyn clicked on the link. She blinked away the bright spots in her vision when it sent her to a bright white page. Mildly concerned, Areyn checked the time.

 _...12:04 a.m? Not bad._ Areyn rubbed her eyes. _Let’s try to go to sleep at 1:00 tonight._

She turned her attention back to her monitor. Yawning, she signed her name and pressed ‘Enter’. Then she closed the tab. It brought her to her Google Doc.

_Weiss stood over the grave, her_

Goddammit, Areyn still had a chapter to write for her RWBY fanfic _All Things Must Die..._ And she had all of half a sentence done. She stared at the blinking cursor. Haha...it was _okay._ Today was a Tuesday! Her self-imposed deadline was only on...Wednesday, as in...Wednesday _tommorow._

Well fuck, she was screwed. Her reviewers were going to murder her. She’d die of self-imposed shame.

... _And there goes sleep,_ Areyn thought drily, ready to pull an all-nighter.

_Weiss stood over the grave. Her eyes turned cold in steely determination. “I’ll find her,” she promised. “And I’ll bring her to justice.”_

_Then her father tore her away. He brought her into his private aircraft. “I’ve given you ennnnnnnnndjdjdjdsjjsjajajjajsjsbdjf_

* * *

_“...Your decisions have never ceased to baffle me, Brother.”_

_“I’m playing a game of chance, Brother. Something you wouldn’t understand, would you? Besides, our power over the world is limited—this is a far better alternative.”_

_“Hm. Humanity must be saved—by any means necessary.”_

* * *

 

 _It’s so...cold._ That couldn’t be right. Areyn had her heater on 24/7 in her room. Did the electricity go out?

 ...And why was her chair so _uncomfortable?_

 Blearily, she opened her eyes. ...Was that the _sun?_ That can’t be right...she hadn’t seen the sunlight in—

“Gah!” Areyn scrambled backwards. Her back hit against a tree. _A tree._

 _W-What the hell?_ She was in a forest—she _had_ to be. There was no sign of any buildings from what she could tell. Instead, tall, imposing trees filled her vision. Areyn felt dirt under her fingers and smelled cider through her nose. She heard birds and...oh fucking god, were those _howls?_

Well, this place had passed the ‘is it a dream?’ test...unfortunately.

Areyn pulled herself off the ground with the help of a tree branch. She wiped dirt off her butt.

It was a novel experience. Areyn hadn’t gone out in three years, much less out in the middle of the woods. Though, now that she’s experiencing it, _for good reason._ The forest is damp and musty and generally on the _unpleasant_ side of things.

Areyn’s mind went into overdrive. How the hell had she gone from her comfortable, wonderful headroom to a horrible, crappy forest? She’s sure that nobody she knew would pull such a dirty prank—or had the abilities to, for that matter. Had she been kidnapped? Drugged? In that case, _why?_

She decided that standing in one place was redundant and began trekking through the forest with no particular goal in mind. Getting out would be nice, the fact that walking might help keep her from freaking out was just a bonus.

Areyn ran through the order of events right before this, _ahem,_ incident. She had been on her computer, all day. RWBY Volume 6 had dropped so she threw herself a nice party (as in stealing some left-over ice cream from the refrigerator and sneaking it upstairs) and then she spent the rest of the day analyzing the opening and episode. Then she decided it was high-time she cleaned out her gmail, the red bubble had been ticking her off lately, and she found that relatable spam mail survey. After signing it, Areyn began writing her fanfic and...well, she could only assume she fell asleep somewhere along the line.

That gave someone like...five hours to grab her, drive to the middle of a random forest, drop her off, and high-tail it out of there.

Who the hell would pull off something like this?! Areyn laughed. Come on, the only people crazy enough to was...well, _the internet_ and Areyn was a nobody. Sure, she had a thing going on as a trashy fanfic author and had garnered a measly following from that, but she’d never been hated (or loved) by the internet trolls like the likes of Justin Bieber or Shia LaBeouf.

The leaves rustled. Every once in a while, howls, clicking, bird shrieks, or an ear piercing combination of the three echoed through the forest. Then something that sounded like an explosion or a hammer banging against metal would go off.

Hey, maybe there were hunters? Hunters were people! Hunters had weapons! Hunters knew how to get out of crappy, dirty forests!

A _bang!_ sounded somewhere to the right of Areyn. She hesitated, after all, she didn’t feel like getting her head blown off, but after a moment, she surged towards the sound. Slowly. Areyn was of the opinion that you can’t be too careful, but then again, she was also the person wandering the woods when the safest option was to just _stay put._

Areyn slid between two trees. _Bang!_ Black smoke erupted in front of her eyes and washed over her. She must have breathed it in because it smelled like tar and clogged her throat. She coughed violently, desperately waving away the smoke. It cleared after a few agonizing seconds. Something dropped to the ground. Areyn thought it looked like some sort of animal skull, but she must be seeing things because that made about _zero sense._ Besides, Areyn wasn’t paying much attention to the whatever-it-was because there was a girl behind the dust with her fist in the air like she had just _punched_ the smoke.

The girl was tall, much taller than Areyn (though that wasn’t saying much). She had the reddest hair Areyn had ever seen, tied in a ponytail that went down to her waist and vibrant green eyes that would put most contact lenses to shame. Okay, that was okay and all, Areyn just managed to run into a supermodel out in the middle of the woods,  that was a _totally normal_ experience. You know what _was_ weird? The girl casually wore Spartan armor and a golden circlet like she was an Amazon or something.

Areyn was pretty sure the style went out a couple dozen centuries ago. Just a hunch. Though she couldn’t help but feel like she’d seen it before. In a show, maybe? Okay, what was a cosplayer doing out in the middle of the woods?

But still, when a tall, pretty convincing Amazon supermodel stared you down, Areyn couldn’t help but feel like _she_ was the weird one. Her completely normal messy brown hair, cheap hoodie, and $5.00 t-shirt were suddenly called into question. Oh, and she was wearing _socks._

Discreetly (not really), Areyn looked down at the girl’s feet. Crap, she wore high-heels! Areyn couldn’t compete with that!

...Wait, how the hell did she get around the woods in _high-heels?_

Areyn quickly flipped her attention from the high-heels to the girl’s face. Because that was _probably_ more important.

The girl stared at Areyn, who, for the record, was still stuck between two trees. She blinked, like she was confused or something. Well, Areyn could relate. Then the girl tilted her head, realized something, and suddenly looked _very_ disappointed.

 _Thanks a lot._ No need to rub it in. Even to strangers, Areyn managed to be a disappointment. Man, her ego was getting obliterated!

“...”

“...”

“Ah, hello,” the girl finally said.

“...Y-Yo.” Areyn felt her soul wilt with her response. But to be fair, this girl was the first new person she’d spoken to in three years. Well...if you didn’t count the psychiatrists.

Areyn stepped backward, unlodging herself from the trees. Human contact kind of freaked her out so...yeah. “...Lady, you don’t happen to know a way out of this forest, do you?”

At least her vocabulary still worked, though her voice came out kind of croaky and dry.

The girl blinked. She finally lowered her fist. “No? I don’t—Why? Is the Initiation proving too difficult?”

Areyn stared at the girl and some part of her registers the fact that she was _muscled,_ but Areyn was more concerned about what the girl was saying. As in, she had no idea what the hell the girl was saying.

“Uh…” Areyn said. Clearly, she was the eloquent type.

The girl’s eyes widened. “Oh! I didn’t mean to insinuate that you were a bad student! My apologies.” She became flustered. “My name is Pyrrha Nikos, I suppose I’m your partner now...and for the next four years.”

... _Eh?!_ Areyn’s brain short-circuited. She opened and closed her mouth a few times.

Here were a few things she registered:

Amazon girl’s name was Pyrrha Nikos— _coincidentally_ the name of a certain character in a certain show that died a certain death.

Amazon girl was dressed like said character in said show that died said death, which was stupidly obvious now but Areyn hadn’t really thought about the possibility before so it hadn’t come up in her mind.

Amazon girl was saying something or another about an initiation and long-term partners.

Amazon girl looked resigned to her fate as the long-term partner of Areyn, something Areyn had not agreed to in the slightest, by the by.

And finally, Areyn was still gaping like a fish and should probably stop before she freaked out Amazon girl— _Pyrrha_ too much.

Areyn faked a cough. It was about as convincing as Pyrrha’s high-heels, which practically defied Newton’s laws. “Wait, wait, wait, wait... _wait.”_

Areyn held up a hand. Pyrrha stared. Areyn’s mind reeled. Okay, so she was stuck in the middle of a forest with a very convincing, logic-defying Pyrrha Nikos who believed that Areyn was taking an initiation and had become her partner, somehow.

Ah, there was a simple explanation to this, really—AND IT MADE NO FUCKING SENSE!

So Areyn made a 180, put one socked foot forward, and walked away.

Pyrrha raised a hand. “Wai-”

See, Areyn had been so busy repeating ‘ _what the fuck?!’_ over and over again in her mind that she hadn’t noticed the black shadow that had been creeping up behind her, which was now right in front of her.

It lunged.

Dulled from three years of wasting away in front of her computer, Areyn couldn’t even fully process the creature, much less the action the thing took and reacting to it. So, she stood rooted to the ground like a spectacular idiot with a death-wish as she watched the clawed monster move in for the kill, also known as Areyn.

A shield flew pass Areyn. It blew her hair forward as it went by, then it curved and lodged itself in the monster. The monster burst into black smoke. Its skull clattered to the ground, followed by the shield.

“Are you okay?!” Pyrrha rushed towards her.

Areyn stared at the smoke. It faded to a whisp, then vanished into the air. It smelled of tar and clogged her throat. “...No.”

She puked all over the ground.


	2. No Easy Way Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

After throwing up everything she had eaten in the last week or so, including that leftover ice cream she ate in celebration of RWBY Volume 6 (which turned out to be quite ironic, didn't it?), Areyn looked at the ground,  _un_ ironically embarrassed. She couldn't help it, the last time she puked so shamefully was when she found out she was allergic to kiwi and dumped out her stomach on her mom's bed.

Pyrrha, for her part, kept a smart distance away from Areyn. She didn't seem to know how to respond to Areyn's...breakdown.

Speaking of breakdowns…

Areyn furiously kicked dirt onto her puke over and over again until all someone could see was an unassuming pile of wet dirt. She whirled on Pyrrha. "You saw  _nothing_."

Pyrrha blinked blankly. Then she caught on. "O-Of course not. In fact, I'll just...go grab my shield."

She tentatively walked around Areyn and her unassuming pile of wet dirt and grabbed her shield and the skull of the Grimm that had almost murdered Areyn. Who had been on Remnant (there was no point in denying it anymore) for a total of around twenty minutes if Areyn was generous to herself.

Areyn wiped her mouth. Then she rubbed her sleeve against a tree as she collected the shattered pieces of herself back into something barely resembling a nice picture.

"Ah, I don't believe I ever got your name?" Pyrrha said. She clipped the Grimm skull onto her belt, adding it to her collection of other Grimm skulls—which wasn't disturbing  _at all._

"Areyn," Areyn told her. "Areyn Jet."

Pyrrha frowned.

"What?"

"Areyn...What does it mean?"

Areyn stopped wiping her sleeve on the tree. She'd rather not put a hole in her only set of clothing in this world. And hahahaha,  _oh my fucking god_ , Areyn was on  _Remnant. The_ Remnant, the same one that had little girls with guns and a literal Satan incarnate in  _woman form._

"...I don't know," Areyn told Pyrrha. Also, what was wrong with her perfectly fine name? And who went on baby name websites and checked the meaning of their own name?

"Ah, I just thought…" Pyrrha looked embarrassed. "Well, I don't believe it's a  _color._ Sorry, I know some parents deviate from the norm nowadays...That was insensitive of me."

Oh.  _Oh._ Remnant's color naming code. The one that Areyn always thought the writers came up with just to look cool (and made every fanfic author's life a living hell).

"Jet is a color," Areyn said, lamely trying to defend the honor of her name for some reason.

"That's true." Pyrrha gave her a win. She had the emotional intelligence to stop herself from arguing with Areyn on something so stupid.

Areyn and Pyrrha paused. Something, probably a Grimm, screeched in the background. Over and over again. See, this was why Areyn always preferred text and messages over face-to-face communication. When you talked through text and messages, when someone else doesn't respond, you can pretend they have more productive things to do. In real-life face-to-face, you didn't get that leisure.

Case in point:

Areyn waited for Pyrrha to say something.

Pyrrha waited for Areyn to say something.

They got exactly a total of nowhere.

"So—" Areyn started.

"I was looking for my spear—" said Pyrrha.

They both halted to a stop.

Flustered, Pyrrha said, "S-Sorry, you can go first."

Areyn furrowed her eyebrows. That's right, if this was the Initiation then Pyrrha had thrown her spear at Jaune…that came out wrong. "Nah. Let's find that spear."

Pyrrha found her spear after a few minutes of searching, which Areyn spent unhelpfully trailing behind her in a daze. The spear was still impaled in a tree—and a ripped hood.

Pyrrha frowned. She raised a hand and concentrated. The spear shook. Then it suddenly soared towards Pyrrha.

Areyn nearly lost her footing. Even though she knew Pyrrha's Semblance was Polarity, it didn't make seeing the  _real deal in action_ any less impressive (or freaky). There's a difference between seeing the thing behind a screen―where you knew there was someone behind the visuals―and in real-life―when Pyrrha literally controlled metal with her hands.

Pyrrha caught her spear. In real life, it was nothing like the haphazard polygon formations they had on the show. It was sleek and shiny and Areyn was pretty sure it was a thousand times overkill. Also, it looked like it could totally stabby stabby and that scared Areyn. What if Pyrrha accidentally swung her spear at Areyn's face?! Goodbye, face…

"He's not here…" Pyrrha muttered, scanning the area. She sounded dejected.

Areyn should probably feel bad about getting in the way of Arkos, but she wasn't really. She was already sure that she'd definitely be dead without Pyrrha and she was begrudgingly grateful for it. Dying would've have been embarrassing―among other things.

Also, Pyrrha barely knew Jaune right now. It was  _fine._ And on the bright side, now that Jaune is out of the picture, maybe Pyrrha and Areyn could get on a safe team! A team that  _didn't_ happen to have or be best friends with all of the protagonists/very important plot-relevant people. Or you know...Pyrrha and Areyn could just  _fail_ the Initiation.

Areyn wondered how she could sabotage Pyrrha, who was basically the strongest Huntress-in-Training in all of Mistral.

Pyrrha turned to Areyn. "Sorry, I suppose we should begin looking for the relics then?"

For some reason, she was looking for Areyn's opinion on the matter. Areyn took the opportunity. "...The relics, yeah, um…"

Dammit, she couldn't get the words out. She should've listened to psychiatrist #3 more!

Gunshots rang from somewhere to their left. Areyn tensed. She pointed in the direction of the sound. "...Buuuuut let's  _not_ go there."

Pyrrha hummed. "It may prove beneficial to team up with other students, but I see your point. After all, there's only a set number of seats and teams available."

Areyn nodded along. "Exactly! So we should avoid the middle of the forest, uh...where most of the students are."

Areyn waited for Pyrrha to move. She had no clue where she was or where they were in proximity to that abandoned temple place where the relics should be. Areyn had no interest in accidentally walking in on the temple.

"That sounds... _impractical,"_ Pyrrha said, brows furrowing. "Wait here—I'll see if I can get a birds eye view of the area."

Areyn blinked. "Wha- _no."_

Too late, Pyrrha was already in the middle of scaling a large evergreen tree. She stabbed the tree with her spear and pulled herself up, rinse and repeat. Areyn felt bad for the tree.

But it was okay, because if nobody noticed the temple when Ozpin threw them off a cliff, then that meant Pyrrha couldn't see—

"I have visuals on a temple!" Pyrrha called from above. "It looks promising!"

Areyn sighed. What was life when it wasn't trying to stab you in the back?

Pyrrha jumped down from the tree. A red barrier flared up around Pyrrha as she made contact with the ground. That must be her aura...freaky but cool.

Pyrrha must have caught Areyn staring, because she said, "O-Oh, I do have more aura than most people…"

"...Huh," said Areyn.

Pyrrha began walking north. Areyn guessed that she must be searching for the temple. Areyn hesitated,  _if she_   _went and she hadn't slowed Pyrrha done enough,_ she might be encountering two really,  _really_ big Grimm. Or at least the Nevermore. One small Grimm experience was good, thanks. But then again, Pyrrha was strong, and honestly, Areyn felt a lot safer with a trained Huntress around even if she had to walk into a Grimm-infested canon-trap.

So—Areyn trailed behind Pyrrha.

So Areyn trailed after Pyrrha.

Pyrrha looked back. "Ah...Huntsmen tend to have more aura than civilians as a general—"

She stopped abruptly and stared at Areyn. Areyn turned her head. There was nothing weird behind Areyn. That meant...Areyn shrank—Pyrrha was staring at  _her_.

"...What?" Areyn asked. She was thoroughly uncomfortable.

"You haven't unlocked your aura."

_I don't even know if I have aura! I'm from another world!_  But Areyn didn't feel like getting labeled as a crazy by the only person she had met on Remnant, so she said lamely, "...Wow."

Yeah, she didn't know where she was going with this either.

Pyrrha seemed to have an internal debate with herself. She frowned, made a thoughtful face, and frowned again. The cycle repeated until finally, she sighed and walked over to Areyn. "I've never tried it before but...I'm going to unlock your aura."

"...Well, it's lit like it can hurt or anything," said Areyn. A magical barrier that'd help Areyn stay alive? Why not?

Pyrrha laughed nervously. "...Usually."

"..." Okay, so maybe it could. And Areyn was going to be Pyrrha's first test dummy.

"I won't do anything without your consent," Pyrrha promised. "It's just...well, a Huntsman that can't deploy their aura don't usually…"

"Okay, I get it," Areyn grumbled. She reasoned that, hey, Jaune was more than okay after Pyrrha messed with his aura, right? "Do the thing and get it over with."

Pyrrha tentatively placed a hand on the side of Areyn's head. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Pyrrha started glowing red.

A fuzzy feeling bubbled up from the inside of Areyn's chest. If Areyn had to really describe it, it'd be like...like an itch Arryn couldn't scratch. In other words, not a very pleasant feeling. Not that Areyn let Pyrrha knew that—she could handle something like this.  _She wasn't weak._ Still, Areyn shut her eyes.

Pyrrha began chanting, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Buzzing filled Areyn's head—then suddenly, it  _popped._ The world burst into vivid colors,  _euphoria,_ but just as quickly as it appeared, it faded into the background. Something had definitely changed, like when you moved into a new room or house, but everything eventually settled into the mundane  _normal._

Areyn stumbled backward. "Wha—"

Pyrrha let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, good. It worked."

Areyn raised her hand to her eye. She caught a fading purple, then it was gone.

"...Hm."

"What is it this time?" Areyn asked, frustrated. She was already well-aware of how unqualified she was for, well... _everything,_ much less  _Beacon._ Why couldn't she have ended up as a baker in Vale or something? The civilian death-count might be at a stupid high, but at least she wasn't in constant danger.

"Nothing," Pyrrha said quickly. She began walking again. "Merely, your aura is civilian-level—that's all. I'm sure you can still make it."

_Civilian-level aura?_ What did  _that_ mean? Probably—'not enough to matter'. ...Wonderful.

But still better than  _no aura,_ right?

Areyn had to her pace hasten her pace to catch up to Pyrrha. She found herself already tired out from  _walking_ and she began cursing herself for never doing anything remotely close to exercise. In Areyn's defense, she never expected any need to run in her life, much less  _fight._

The journey, if you could call it that, to the temple was relatively peaceful. Areyn winced and shivered whenever Pyrrha smacked down a few tiny Nevermores and step on some rat-like Grimm. And there might've been an accident where Areyn walked into a bee's nest—not even a  _Grimm_ bee's nest, just  _a_ bee's nest. Then they ran like hell, or at least Areyn did, Pyrrha looked completely unaffected. The point was, there was nothing that screamed ' _you're going to die an awful and horrible death before you can legally drink!'_ on the way.

But that must have been the world's sick, sick plan, because as soon as they entered the clearing—Areyn battered and exhausted, Pyrrha just as fine as she had been since the moment Areyn met her—everything went to hell.

First, a girl with a black dress and red trimmings fell from the sky.

"Ruby!" A blonde dived after her. A girl wearing a bow watched the entire thing unfold without even blinking.

Okay.

"IIIIIIIT followed us!" Then two teenagers, a ginger girl and a dark-haired boy burst into the clearing, a giant scorpion Grimm, the Deathstalker, plowed through who knew how many trees clattering after them.

Okay.

The ginger exclaimed, "I swear it wasn't my fault!"

Okay.

"You left me!" someone shrieked indignantly, as if they didn't believe anyone would ever do such a thing. The body, a white-haired girl, attached to the voice fell off of a giant pitch black bird. She managed to make a white glyph in mid-air and jumped off of it. Her aura flared when she landed on the ground. "I swear—!"

Okay.

The bird Grimm,  _Nevermore,_ circled above them, shrieking. It waited for an opportunity to strike.

Okay.

Areyn felt a headache rushing to her temples. She looked to Pyrrha, ready to suggest a plan that involved something like: ' _get the fucking hell out of here',_ and realized that her so-called partner had disappeared.  _Gee, thanks a lot, Pyrrha._

Areyn found her charging at the Deathstalker. Pyrrha threw her spear into one of its eyes. The Deathstalker stopped and screamed. Its cry echoes through the clearing.

It didn't help Areyn's headache.

"Go, go, go!" Pyrrha commanded.

"Already on it, lady~!" chirped the ginger.

The dark-haired boy grabbed her arm. "Nora, move faster!"

The Nevermore rounded on them. It flapped its wings and while the gust of wind it created was nothing to laugh at, the steady stream of razor-sharp feathers streaking towards the ground was  _definitely_  more concerning.

Unfortunately, Areyn happened to be somewhere behind Pyrrha, and Ren, and Nora.

She flinched, but she spurned herself into action— _don't die, idiot! no, no, no, no, no, no—_ and jumped out of the way.

Into the clearing.

It was official, Areyn Jet was completely doomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay! Let’s try for short weekly Thursday updates! 
> 
> Beta is bro 
> 
> ~See ya!


	3. Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY

 

Areyn gasped for breath. She stumbled over a pebble. Her eyes grew hazy and her mind did catch-up on events that happened more than a minute ago.

* * *

_Weiss—the girl was obviously Weiss, who else had white hair and a tiny scar down their left eye?—had just frozen the Deathstalker in its place. She wasted no time getting to business. "There's no point in dallying. Our objective has nothing to do with the Grimm."_

_Ruby shook herself out of the shock of being saved by Weiss. She zipped over to a stand and grabs a chess piece. "Y-Yeah! Weiss is right. We need to get to Beacon Hill with our relics!"_

" _Do you have a relic?" Pyrrha asked Areyn._

_Areyn shoved a chess piece into her pocket. "...Sure."_

" _Sure?"_

" _Yes."_

_Areyn did. She was scared of Pyrrha and she had the feeling that lying to the basically-Spartan would be something she'd dearly regret. Even if it would be in part for Pyrrha's own good._

_Ruby ran up the hill. She looked down at them, all of them, Areyn, Pyrrha, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Ren, and Nora. "Let's get moving! Uh...also, the Grimm are coming."_

_The Deathstalker broke out of its ice cage._

_Areyn had never felt more motivated to get moving._

* * *

So Areyn ran—her flimsy legs didn't do her any favors, dragging her behind the rest of the group. The only person she could keep up with, or at least keep up behind, was Ruby. And considering that Ruby was fifteen and carrying around a giant scythe bigger than her, Areyn didn't think that was much of an accomplishment. And Ruby didn't need to be fast. She had a speed Semblance, one that Areyn saw briefly as a rocket of red—it had been scary.

But even though her lungs were burning and her legs were more than ready to give out, Areyn kept on going. The Nevermore and the Deathstalker, especially the Deathstalker, provided the motivation she sorely needed—why, if only she had them around in those gym courses in middle school!

Eventually, the forest thinned out into flat plains. Stone ruins directed the group—a group that Areyn somehow found herself being a part of—towards a canyon. Beacon Hill stood ahead of the canyon, its peak hundreds of feet up, and looming stone bridges and towers held up by columns provided a way there. Except...the bridges and towers looked unstable at best, looked completely ruined at worst, and were a pile of jumbled messes with no clear direction. It was almost like the no doubt  _genius_  architect that made them had absolutely what he was doing.

If Areyn wasn't so exhausted and worn out and the action wouldn't have been so utterly embarrassing she'd throw herself off a cliff, she would've screamed. Loudly.

The Nevermore must have felt the same way because  _it_  screamed. ...And then it shot its feathers at Areyn and her tentative sort-of group.

Following Pyrrha's example, Areyn dived for cover under the stone ruins.

Searing pain scorched her back, underneath her right shoulder—the feeling of a giant needle slowly seeping into her skin. Areyn faltered, she couldn't breathe, couldn't move her mouth, much less  _scream,_  and she tumbled into cover—falling and rolling over.

Areyn drove her back onto the ruins and slid—in a futile attempt to stop the  _fucking pain._ She squeezed shut her eyes and tried to breathe. Her back muscles spasmed—and that was the worst part. It drummed and convulsed, like it was trying to seal the pain in a tiny box, then it suddenly stopped. Areyn's eyes fluttered open in confusion.

There was only a low drumming to her left shoulder, a feeling that reminded Areyn of the time she pulled her muscle in 5th grade.

Areyn slowly reached for the spot, scared and tentative. All she felt was bare skin.

H-Had she hallucinated the whole thing? The pain? The  _hurting?_ Oh lord, Remnant was turning her insane.

"Areyn? We need to move." Suddenly, Pyrrha was in front of her. The redhead frowned. "Are you okay? Sorry...I shouldn't have gone too far ahead."

Areyn barely registered what Pyrrha said. "Y-Yeah," she said dumbly. "I'm fine."

"Good, because the Deathstalker is coming."

The Deathstalker burst out of the forest.

"Y'know...I can see that."

And Areyn summoned the strength to run again, because even defeated and exhausted, she still valued her life above everything else. Besides, she could never live with knowing that she, Areyn Jet, was the cause of failure aka. death.

"I'm covering!" Yang yelled, pelting explosive bullets at the Nevermore.

Ruby and Weiss were the first to cross onto the bridge, followed by Ren and Nora. Blake hesitated at the beginning of the bridge, waiting for her partner.

"Move!" Areyn told Yang as she ran pass, because there was a giant scorpion on Areyn's tail and really, it would be pretty bad if Yang died.

Yang looked confused for a second. She stared at Areyn like,  _where the hell did you come from?_ but then she threw one final shot at the Nevermore and moved. Blake dashed pass Ruby and Weiss, throwing a ribbon at a building. She swung onto the high ground and began shooting at the Nevermore.

Pyrrha stopped on the bridge. She turned her lance into a rifle and aimed for the Deathstalker. Areyn and Yang ran pass.

Areyn slowed down—she needed a break and she was beginning to favor her shoulder—she looked up. The Nevermore shook off Blake's rounds and dived for the bridge.

"Shit!" Areyn cursed, her breath hitching as she halts to an abrupt stop. Just as well, right in front of her, the Nevermore collided with the bridge. It sent splinters and pieces flying in all directions as the bridge cracks with a sickening snap and rumble. Areyn held up her hands and she was thrown back. She was thrown into the air—then gravity took hold and she slid to Pyrrha's side. Her sleeves ripped and she felt her arm slice open like butter. A jolt of pain went through her left side. Her vision faded in and out. But when her eyes cleared and she could see again, there was no hint of any injuries. There was just the feeling of pulled muscles.

Pyrrha didn't have the luxury to look at Areyn. She aimed at the Deathstalker and pulled the trigger again and again. The shells, ejected from the gun, fell to the ground and clattered. "What happened?"

"T-The Nevermore broke the bridge," Areyn stammered. She was disgusted with herself, upset. Right now, she was being even less useful than  _Jaune_ and that filled Areyn with self-loathing to the nth degree. The worst part? She wasn't even hurt for her troubles!

"Damn it." Yang lumbered over. Areyn hadn't realized that the blonde didn't make it to the other side. Yang rolled her arm. "To be honest, I'd rather be with Ruby but...hey, she needs the experience, I guess. I'll help you guys out."

Pyrrha simply nodded.

Areyn stared. By now, she should be used to seeing fictional characters in real life—the real-deal instead of what they looked like on RWBY. Where, for example, Pyrrha's eyes were so much more vibrant and lively and her posture more natural, her hair gleaming under the sun like a real person's. But there was also a distinctly  _un_ real nature to it because there should be no way in hell that Remnant's Huntsmen population was filled with perfect supermodels.

Take, for example, Yang, who was undoubtedly  _hot._ Who somehow had golden hair that didn't look dyed or cheesy and natural purple eyes. Who, and you couldn't see it on-screen, radiated heat and confidence and general badassery. Okay, so maybe Areyn was a little in over her head—but Yang couldn't exist on Earth. No way.

"Remnant to dude?" Yang asked, waving a hand in Areyn's face.

"It's coming!" Pyrrha shouted.

Areyn blinked and shook her head. "Hngh."

Shit, she needed to get back to dying!

"Yeah, you can stare at me later." Yang winked and walked away. Areyn felt heat rush to her head.  _What the hell am I doing?!_

_Oh right...Dying._

The Deathstalker skittered onto Areyn's stone bridge. The ground rumbled as it moved—which made Areyn queasy, the bridge barely held together as is and no one or thing would survive a fall into the cavern.

Pyrrha changed her rifle back into lance-form, Yang pumped her gauntlets, Areyn scurried backward. She felt her feet near the edge of the bridge.

The Deathstalker tilted its head, then it charged.

Pyrrha threw her lance, the Deathstalker blocked the weapon with its pincers and jumped out of the way. Yang propelled herself off the ground with the recoil from her gauntlets. She flipped in the air and threw a rocketing punch at the Deathstalker's head.

 _Crack!_ For a second, Areyn found herself awed when the Deathstalker's armor dented from a single punch. Yang grinned, her eyes flickering between red and purple. Then the Deathstalker's mouth clattered and its tail whipped around and swatted Yang away. Areyn watched Yang fly through the air and slam into the ground, aura exploding as she skidded to a stop, a fist in the bridge. It was really something—from a shonen anime.

Pyrrha muttered something under her breath. She made a hand motion and her lance flew back into her grasp.

The Deathstalker clattered again and aimed its site at Pyrrha—who was the closest to the Grimm. Pyrrha tensed and her shield raced to her hand.

Areyn watched pieces of stone fall into the abyss. She swallowed and ran to Yang. Safety in numbers and all that.

Yang coughed, waving away the dust. "Help Pyrrha, I'm fine."

Areyn stiffened. "Uh…"

Pyrrha parried a pincer with her shield. She rolled out of the way of the next attack.

"Wait—Where the hell is your weapon?" Yang asked, brows furrowing.

"...I lost it?" Areyn found herself lying lamely.

Yang stared at Areyn. The blonde roughly got back onto her feet. "Okay." She pushed Areyn behind her. "Just...Try to get out of the way."

Areyn could do that. She really could.

Yang jumped forward, shooting at the Deathstalker. The Deathstalker turned, leaving an opening for Pyrrha to stab it in its uncovered side. It clicked and clattered loudly and knocked Pyrrha off of the bridge.

Areyn's breath hitched. She didn't realize that she ran to the side of the bridge until she was already there.

A streak of black darted through her vision and a ribbon wrapped itself around the Deathstalker's tail. Blake Belladonna, hand grasping Pyrrha's arm, flew over the edge of the bridge. Blake and Pyrrha land behind the Deathstalker.

Yang bolted around the Deathstalker, distracting it with pummels and jabs.

"The Grimm is around an upper-D class," Areyn heard Pyrrha tell Blake.

"And the Nevermore?" Blake asked.

"If I had to guess, lower-C."

Blake gave a curt nod. Then she flashed forward, leaping at the Deathstalker. Her blade flew at the Grimm. It cut in a flurry of slices and slashes Areyn couldn't even begin to comprehend.

When Blake landed beside Yang, black smoke all but seeped out of the Deathstalker's tail. It thrashed about, crooked and bent out of shape, then it straightened and  _struck._ Yang and Blake jumped out of the way.

"Areyn, catch!" Pyrrha exclaimed, throwing her shield.

Areyn didn't know how she was supposed to register a shield flying at her with the speed of approximately 100 miles an hour and she didn't need to—because she didn't register. The shield slammed into Areyn's stomach and catapulted her backward, but somehow, Areyn found the willpower to stay on her feet and grab the shield. Well, most of the willpower came from some serious self-deprecation and cursing at herself and the words ' _more useless than fucking Jaune before his fucking healing powers',_ but the point was, she got it done.

Which was a good thing, because as soon as Areyn figured out how to fucking hold the fucking shield, Pyrrha barreled out of nowhere and leaped off the shield. Areyn felt her arms practically crack under the pressure—but she decided that it might actually be worth it when she watched Pyrrha fly through the air and stabbed the motherfucking Deathstalker in one of its hideous fucking eyes.

Areyn decided that she might be cursing too much too.

The Deathstalker clattered, its mouth piercers drumming together furiously. It scrambled around violently—and pieces of the bridge began falling off.

"Fuck!" Areyn cursed out loud. "The thing's going to send all of us into the canyon!"

Blake moved into action. She ran and threw her ribbon around the Deathstalker's body. Then she pulled.

Areyn remembered something from RWBY Volume One, Chapter One—the episode was still vivid in her mind.

"Yang, hold down Blake's sword...pistol thing! Or punch it into the ground!" Areyn said. She might have yelled—she needed to over the wind—but her voice carried no authority to it. Yang was intimidating, Blake was intimidating, and Areyn's self-confidence was crumbling on the spot.

"Got it!" Yang sprinted to the other side of the Deathstalker. She punched Blake's sword into the bridge, grabbed the ribbon, and pulled. The Deathstalker struggled against its bindings, clattering furiously. It shook, but Blake and Yang stood their ground as Pyrrha began attacking each of the Grimm's eyes.

Areyn stumbled into a run. She slid pass the Deathstalker and onto the stable side of the bridge safely. Adrenaline pumped through her veins—yes! she could do this, she could live,  _more_ than live.

Then Pyrrha crashed into her and they're both sent tumbling towards the beginning of the bridge.

"Shit!" Yang cursed, her grasp on the ribbon slipping.

The Deathstalker swerved around—and Blake was thrown into the air. But the Deathstalker didn't take the opportunity to eliminate Blake. It charged forward.

Areyn and Pyrrha had just managed to get back on their feet—they had no opening to jump out of the way.

The Deathstalker's stinger thrust forward. On reflex, Areyn held up Pyrrha's shield. The stinger clang against the shield—and Areyn really thought she had it,  _I got it!—_ then Pyrrha's shield gave way. The Deathstalker's stinger slid pass Areyn's feeble defense—

—and drove straight into Areyn's chest.

Areyn died on the spot.

What? Did you think anyone could survive a clean stab to the heart?

It went through the other side, for lord's fucking sake!

There was an eerie atmosphere in the air. The Deathstalker clattered, its stinger still firmly lodged in Areyn's cold, limp body. Pyrrha, Yang, and Blake's eyes locked on the sight—their eyes wide with dread and stricken horror.

Then Areyn inhaled. She coughed. And coughed. Blood, mostly. Her brain wasn't working properly—it felt like it had just been jump started and in a way, it  _had._ Which was just as well, really, because if Areyn's mind  _had_ been working properly, it would've crashed from the blinding, burning agony in the pit of her stomach.

Dazed and incoherent, Areyn shakily raised a hand. She coughed again—and blood— _dark red and thick, so thick—_ splattered onto the palm of her hand.

Then the blood rose into the air—suddenly, it exploded into black smoke and rushed back into Areyn. The taste of iron in her mouth became the taste of tar—and a rippling effect went through her entire body.

There was a moment frozen in time, when Areyn's chest rolled back into itself in a storm of ash and dust—only to be caught on the Deathstalker's stinger. Then Areyn coughed up blood—only to have it rush back into her mouth. Again, and again.

Arryn couldn't tell you how long it stayed that way. She couldn't tell you how agonizing it was either—just that she died. A lot.

And dead people didn't scream.

When she came back to life, kneeling with hands on the ground, Areyn was cold. Like death had frozen over one too many times, and in a way, a very literal way, it was true.

But it didn't matter, because the Deathstalker's stinger was around Areyn's feet—shattered into a million pieces.

And dammit all, Areyn wanted this all to be  _fucking over already—_ so she summoned her courage and yelled, "It's already half-dead! Stop standing there and chop off its fucking legs and stab it in its belly, you fucking idiots!"

Her harsh words must have had some effect on Pyrrha, Yang, and Blake—they burst into action.

Blake reigned in her ribbon and she darted at the Deathstalker. She slashed and blasted gunfire at each of the Deathstalker's legs in a flurry of movement.

Pyrrha ran forward, her shield flying into her hand. She threw it at the Deathstalker's feet—crumpling them into airy black smoke. Then she dived into a slide and propped up her lance—directly under the Deathstalker's head. Pyrrha's aura flared and she heaved the Deathstalker into the air.

Yang appeared under the Deathstalker, fist at the ready. Yang's eyes shifted into red and her fist plunged straight into the Grimm's guts—that is, assuming Grimms had organs.

The Deathstalker let out a final ear-piercing clatter and burst into a plume of smoke.

It smelled of tar and clogged Areyn's throat. She hacked and found herself surprised by a lack of blood.

The Deathstalker's bones fell to the ground with audible  _clunks_.

Yang's fist was smoking and she stood there, looking at it with a strange interest. Blake walked to Yang's side, tentatively. She sheathed her weapon and picked one of the Deathstalker's vertebrae off the ground. Then she pointed at the ruins ahead. "Look."

Yang looked up as she was told—just in time to catch a Nevermore turn to smoke and the signature sign of red rose petals.

"Areyn?!" Pyrrha ran to Areyn and kneeled at Areyn's level. Pyrrha was as white as a sheet. "Oh gods, are you feeling well? No—of course, you're not. That was a stupid question. How are you—"

Areyn found herself sprawled on the ground. She snickered, then she laughed. All-out, with no regard for the world at large

Yes. She had a complete mental breakdown then—and she would dearly regret it only minutes later.

But at that moment. That single moment when her vision was still blurry and her body still ached with fire and pin needles and excruciating pulled muscles. All she could find formulating in her mind was—

_This is really my reality now, huh?_

* * *

"..." A man, one with shaggy grey hair and ancient eyes but the deceptive appearance of a simple middle-aged man, frowned. He furrowed his brows and replayed a clip—repeatedly. With a slight obsession.

He didn't even take to notice the first group of students that made it up Beacon Hill.

"Professor Ozpin?" his companion, a woman whose sharp features and impeccably professional appearance made the man looked utterly outclassed, asked. "Our first team has arrived, one Jaune Ar—"

"Shhh. Glynda, please congratulate our newest students on their early arrival and send them back to Beacon," the man said distractedly. "Don't worry about me. I believe I've found something quite... _peculiar_."

Again, he repeated the clip of an unregistered Initiation participant dying on the stinger of a Deathstalker—

—until she didn't.

"...And perhaps quite concerning as well," the man said, in a voice only he could hear.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, so like most self-insert authors, I ran into a problem where any random person who falls into a horrible, dangerous place like Remnant would immediately die a painful death because of how unequipped and idiotic they are.
> 
> My solution was to give Areyn a completely OP Semblance where she literally couldn't die. During the planning stages, I was actually really disappointed with such a lame Semblance—lol, I even bounced around a 'then I thought about it, then everything fell into place.
> 
> Without spoiling too much—Areyn's Semblance is going to be a very very important plot point in the future.
> 
> ~See ya!
> 
> Twitter Plug: aroszjoker (If you want to get in contact for any reason.)


	4. You're Here to Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Volume I - Chapter IV: You're Here to Stay
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
> 
> *Looking for any willing Betas*

* * *

Areyn found herself wide awake— _too awake—_ -after the 'Giant Scorpion Incident'. She'd read in stories of people fainting after getting into all types of painful situations, and well, now she could say it was all complete bullshit.

How was she supposed to faint or stop acting like a wrecked mess after getting stabbed through her heart? It hurt like hell and Areyn didn't know about other people, but when something hurt like hell, you couldn't just stop thinking about it.

And, Areyn thought, I would seriously rather faint then walk up this damn mountain.

Pyrrha probably would've carried her too. The fake-Spartan hadn't let Areyn out of her sight since she had burst out in a bout of concerning manic laughter. Pyrrha had also forced Areyn to carry her shield—which was a complete pain, but admittedly worth it for arming Areyn with...well,  _something._

Areyn took another step through the tunnel Ren had found connecting the ruins to Beacon Hill. She found herself people-watching RWBY's cast—in real-life.

Huh, reality was a lot easier to swallow after you got stabbed by a fictional monster. Look at that.

Areyn burst out in another concerning bout of giggling. Pyrrha sent her worried sideways glances.

Areyn ignored her. She'd already gotten used to Pyrrha's presence in her life. And Yang's, to a degree. The blonde had run off to congratulate her sister right after making sure that the Deathstalker was staying dead—by taking great joy in blasting all of its bones except the skull—and everyone was okay. Speaking of her sister, Ruby Rose decided to Semblance herself (Areyn really had no other way to describe it) back under Beacon Hill just so she could enjoy suffering the same walk uphill as her new partner and soon-to-be teammates. Yeah, Areyn had no idea what the girl had been thinking either.

Even worse, Ruby didn't act any less hyper and excited than she had been when she dropped back down. She was currently in the midst of annoying Weiss with talks about the sickening amount of ways Crescent Rose could've obliterated the Nevermore. Areyn concluded that real-life Ruby was just like fictional Ruby. Except even less mature. She couldn't remember if Ruby really had been like this in Season One.

On a similar note, Areyn hadn't exchanged a single word with Weiss Schnee yet—and with the way the white-head acted, Areyn might never talk to her. Not until she got some character development and became less snooty anyway. The Schnee heiress generally acted like an ass and turned up a nose at everyone except Pyrrha and Ruby—and Ruby had only been made an exception because Weiss was forced to work with her.

Arryn found herself a bit disappointed. Weiss was by far Areyn's favorite character in RWBY and Areyn had always cheered Weiss-the-character on in her journey of self-discovery and a less shitty family and personality. But, Areyn would just have to wait for that.

Areyn shook her head. The word 'wait' would imply that Areyn would be around Team RWBY for a while. That Areyn was going to attend Beacon and deal with the  _plot._

That was still a big 'no-no'. Even if Areyn had accepted that she was stuck in Remnant with no conceivable way out.

Moving on from Weiss, Blake was...well,  _quiet._ Areyn had to actively look for Blake, even as she walked right behind Yang—who had become the designated torchbearer. And then Areyn had to look away because Blake's eyes would flick in Areyn's direction as soon as Areyn focused on her.

Areyn decided to give the scary cat lady a pass.

Then there was the dynamic duo Ren and Nora. They were...a thing, Areyn decided as she watched Ren give the weirdest answers to whatever question Nora threw at him on reflex.

"Bears or caterpillars?" Nora asked.

"Fish," Ren said flatly. He blinked, apparently surprised by his own answer.

Areyn chalked them up to being even weirder in reality then they were in fiction. She frowned then and wondered if RWBY the show  _was_  this reality or if RWBY the show was a fake version of this reality. Or if RWBY the show was an alternate reality altogether. Then Areyn wondered if it really mattered at all, either way. Then Areyn felt a headache and an urge to sit huddled in front of a computer screen and watch anime for hours on end. Areyn recognized this urge as a symptom of burnout and working her brain too much. So she stopped thinking about realities and switched to—oh hey, they were on Beacon Hill!

Areyn blinked the sun out of her eyes and promptly realized that everyone had started working their way uphill. Again.

Pyrrha patted Areyn's shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile. Areyn had the feeling that it was an encouraging smile laced with the worry that she might snap again.

Areyn did not snap again. Areyn had something to prove. And when Areyn had something to prove, she didn't snap. Usually.

Luckily for Pyrrha, Areyn found the remaining trek...acceptable. It was a gradual slope upwards, without any obstacles in the way. Even trees were sparse—something Areyn was very thankful for. After the bee incident, Areyn found herself adamant about avoiding trees—else her stupidity would get her killed, or not-killed. Killed again?

Absentmindedly, Areyn patted the spot where she'd been stabbed. It stung and she winced. Don't get her wrong, she was  _very_ happy to be alive but...well, she'd rather not experience anything like dying anytime in the future. If that thing that happened to her—that black smoke and mending back together from death—was really her Semblance or whatever, Areyn wasn't planning on testing its capacities anytime soon.

Sure, the apparent ability to  _not die_ was really something—but not dying didn't mean  _not feeling pain._

It was a wonder—that Areyn still thought coherently. But then, she'd already locked that feeling— _the burning, the ash, the searing pai—_ in the depths of her mind and she wasn't planning on unlocking it anytime ever.

There was a man waiting at the top of the hill. He had shaggy grey hair and ancient eyes hidden behind shaded spectacles. And there was just something  _off_ about him that made Areyn's skin crawl. If Areyn hadn't known about Ozpin from RWBY the show, she would've thought 'STRANGER DANGER!'. Since Areyn knew about Ozpin from RWBY the show, she thought 'wow, he really is shady'. Somehow, she didn't feel great about Professor Ozpin either way.

Areyn glared at Professor Ozpin's clothes like they were the culprit for his shady nature. The fact that Ozpin had on an unzipped dark suit over a dark green vest and then  _another_ green shirt was a tad suspicious. As in, who the hell dressed like that?!

Ozpin, the real deal Ozpin—who somehow seemed even less real than a girl with a giant gun-scythe and an honest to God fake-Spartan—looked up from his scroll. He gave a cheerful old man's smile to the new arrivals. "Ah, well isn't this a big group of new students?"

Ruby practically beamed. She zipped to Ozpin's side. "Professor Ozpin! Oh, the Initiation was so epic! There were so many things to test Crescent Rose on and then there was the giant Nevermore we found in the forest and—"

"That's...wonderful," said Ozpin. He took a step to the left, effectively distancing himself from the hyperactive teenager known as Ruby Rose. "And I'm sure I'll hear all about it in the future. But in the meantime, why don't you return to Beacon?" He looked over the rest of the group. "That goes for all of you as well. The Initiation must have been taxing on your bodies."

"Uh, Professor Headmaster sir?" Pyrrha asked tentatively. "While it's wonderful that you care so much about the well-being of your students...You haven't checked if we all obtained relics."

Professor Ozpin's eyes twinkled. "Oh, I already know everyone here has," he said mysteriously—and Areyn knew that he'd been stalking them on his scroll. "Don't worry about it, dear. I've been doing this for a very  _very_ long time."

And that was that. Pyrrha scratched her cheek sheepishly.

Then Nora let out a loud victory cheer and ran towards an aircraft, it was small and sleek and completely alien to Areyn. Areyn assumed that the aircraft was supposed to take them (them as in the cast of RWBY—not  _Areyn)_ back to Beacon. Areyn had spotted a giant grey tower in the distance and it was too far away to be a reasonable walking distance.

A blond woman in a purple cape appeared from behind the aircraft. She berated Nora on her manners, though they were too far away for Areyn to pick up any words besides 'proper!' and 'respectable!'.

"Oh dear," Ozpin said. "Please, tell Glynda to lay off Ms. Valkyrie. It's only the first day."

Ruby happily complied, rushing over to the pair in a flurry of red rose petals. Areyn wondered what it was like to become something completely different from yourself, like red rose petals. She'd imagine it to be pretty...weird.

Following Pyrrha, Areyn began walking to the aircraft. She didn't know what she was supposed to do if she stayed in this Grimm-packed forest from hell and she didn't want to stay if she could help it either. Even if she had to go to Beacon.

Ozpin held out a hand as Areyn was about to pass by. He tilted his head in her direction. "Miss. If you may, please, stay here. I'd like to...discuss some things with you."

"H-Hm?" Areyn stopped in her tracks. She looked up at Ozpin. She didn't know what to think or how to feel. Ozpin had probably found out that Areyn didn't belong at Beacon (thank lord) but...well, what were the consequences of breaking into the Initiation? Even if it was on accident? So should Areyn be glad that Ozpin caught her—or worried?

Pyrrha noticed Areyn stop. She turned, a concerned look on her face. Areyn decided to give Pyrrha her shield back, it had become kind of exhausting to carry. Besides, if everything went the way Areyn thought they were, she wouldn't be seeing Pyrrha ever again anyway.

So Areyn practically shoved the shield into Pyrrha's arms. Pyrrha took the action graciously, though she did look confused. She glanced at Ozpin, then at Areyn, and left.

Areyn felt a bit insecure without the fake-Spartan. After all, Pyrrha had been the only constant since Areyn landed on Remnant.

"Glynda?" Ozpin asked as the blonde woman approached. "Will you take my place? I'd like to speak with this young lady—at Beacon."

Glynda Goodwitch did not look pleased by her Headmaster's spur-of-the-moment decision. She gave Areyn a once-over and then glared at Ozpin. "Fine."

Ozpin beamed, something that did not look natural on the face of a middle-aged man. At all. "Thank you, Glynda."

Glynda snorted.

Then Ozpin gestured at Areyn and began walking towards an aircraft even smaller than the one Nora had been running to. Areyn thought it was around the size of a normal car. So maybe it could be counted as a flying car. ...Even though the aircraft didn't possess any wheels.

The aircraft's insides weren't much different from an Earth car's either. Areyn slipped into the backseat and buckled her seatbelts. She didn't usually buckle her seatbelts (who did?) but she was nervous, dammit.

Areyn watched Ozpin take the driver's seat. He swiped something—a card?—over a scanner. A hologram lit up, taking the shape of a screen. Ozpin said out loud, "Hestia, take us to Beacon."

" _Understood."_

A low humming started at Areyn's feet. Then, just like that, they were in the air. Areyn planted her face on the window. She watched Beacon Hill slowly vanish into the distance and flat land came into the view. Only a few minutes later, she saw it—

Beacon Academy.

And Areyn realized that RWBY the show never  _ever_ captured the  _sheer scale_ of the castle. Beacon Academy could've easily fit a town in its walls. Heck, maybe even a few skyscrapers if it wanted to. Its many towers stood tall and proud, all dwarfing the trees that surrounded it. Beacon Academy was grandiose and awe-inspiring—and at that moment, Areyn would've bet everything she had that the castle was more magnificent than anything found on Earth.

Her aircraft passed it—revealing the Main Avenue. The avenue itself was appropriately impressive, easily spanning over a football field long. And its width could be compared to a highway's.

Areyn was so stupefied, she didn't even notice landing on a docking bay. It was only when Ozpin opened the door that she started and stumbled out. She followed Ozpin into the Academy without a single remark, too busy trying to digest the blast of visual information she was receiving. She took in the tall street lamps, the hologram flags, the literal courtyard, and the looming aqueduct-like archways. She reluctantly passed a stone statue depiction of a Huntress and Huntsman standing over a cowering werewolf-like Grimm—a Beowulf. Areyn nearly stopped in front of the doorway, a giant thing over ten-times her height. She had to wonder, what was the application for a door so big? But then, Ozpin was already a fair distance away and Areyn didn't want to make him wait. She stepped up her paste.

Areyn practically ran through the grand amphitheater and hurried into a corridor. After that, she didn't have much time to admire Beacon's interior, too busy trying not to get lost between corridors and pathways. By the third turn, she already had no idea where they were and relied on Ozpin to lead the way.

Finally, Ozpin brought her to an elevator. The type of elevator you would usually find in fancy hotels. Ozpin pressed a number—and Areyn noted that there were  _a lot_ of numbers—and the elevator rushed upwards.

 _Ding!_ The doors opened—to a large open room Areyn recognized as Ozpin's office. Large ornate windows lined the walls and bright beams of sunlight streamed into the office, creating a warm atmosphere inside the room. But most striking were the gears in place of a proper ceiling. They ranged in size, but they all spun and spun lazily...endlessly.

Ozpin took a seat at his desk. He gestured for Areyn to sit across from him. Areyn complied.

They sat silently for a moment and Areyn took in the mood of the office and Ozpin's presence.

Ozpin coughed, breaking the silence. "Miss…?"

"Areyn," Areyn said. "Areyn Jet."

Ozpin pulled out his scroll. As he typed into the device, he said, "Miss Jet. As I'm sure you're well aware, you were not included in the Initiation roster. In fact, you did not even apply to Beacon."

"...Sorry," Areyn said—not sounding very sorry. After all, she had not meant to wake up in a scary forest where a bunch of teenagers happened to be testing. "I...I guess I just dropped in on the forest at the wrong time."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "The Emerald Forest is a highly regulated danger zone."

"Um…"

"No matter. I'm sure you had your reasons...and abilities." Ozpin waved a deceptively nonchalant hand. "Now normally, anyone who was found disturbing the Initiation—or Emerald Forest as a whole—would be punished under the law—"

Oh, Areyn didn't like the sound of that. "I didn't mean to—"

" _But."_ Ozpin smiled. "Considering how well you performed in the Initiation, I'm willing to make an exception."

Areyn faltered. "What?"

Ozpin leaned forward. "Miss Jet, I am presenting you a once in a lifetime opportunity—and I will only ask you this  _once_ : would you like to become a student of Beacon Academy and train in the ways of a Huntress?"

The Headmaster watched Areyn with calculating eyes, waiting.

Areyn had trouble properly thinking about Ozpin's words. No. That wasn't it. She understood. Clear as day. But— _this was exactly what she didn't want._

Going to Beacon—was a death sentence. Or maybe a  _dying_ sentence would be more accurate. Even if Areyn had teamed up with a nobody, the Breach and the Fall would've been dangerous—maybe even fatal. But Areyn was Pyrrha's partner.  _Pyrrha Nikos._ The girl who won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row. The girl who was fated to die on top of the Beacon Tower. The girl who would send Team RWBY and the remainders of Team JNPR into threats that literally endangered all of mankind. And Areyn was her partner.  _Areyn_ would have to deal with all that crap.

But Areyn hesitated when the answer should've been obvious. Because Areyn was weak and Areyn hated  _hated_ losing a fight. Because there was a part of Areyn filled with pride—the part of Areyn that was desperate to crawl to the top. To show people that she was  _better. Important._

"...What if I say no?" Areyn asked Ozpin. She was looking for a way out of the hole she had started digging herself into.

"Well," Ozpin said, looking at his scroll. "You'd be facing charges of destruction of wildlife, disrupting a public event, and trespassing. As you're technically a minor, you're likely to be fined and mandated to do community service. Now on the  _off-chance_ you cannot pay a fine, you may be incarcerated."

Obviously, Areyn couldn't pay any fine. Community service was acceptable but...Areyn had no identity on Remnant and she had the feeling that might get her into some... _uncomfortable situations_ when someone eventually checked her background. But  _Beacon_ on the other hand, well, Ozpin was already willing to look past some minor felonies...

So Areyn told herself that she was backed into a corner. That Beacon was her only viable option. Besides, Beacon provided everything, right? If Areyn decided to attend, all her basic survival needs would be fulfilled. She'd have a dorm, some supplies,  _food…_

Ozpin was waiting—watching Areyn with calculating eyes. Areyn didn't want to keep him waiting for long, so she said, "Yeah, I'll attend Beacon."

As soon as the words left her mouth, a weight seemed to lift from Areyn's shoulders. She couldn't help but think that the room brightened and the world looked more  _welcoming._

Ozpin smiled. "Wonderful. But there's just one thing…"

Areyn sagged.  _What now?!_ She'd just royally screwed up her future...

* * *

" _See, Beacon applicants are required to take two placement exams—a mathematics evaluation and a language arts evaluation—before they're even allowed to participate in the Initiation. There are simply too many applicants each year for the Initiation to work properly. And even so, Beacon is a prestigious academy—we can't simply allow anyone to enter, can we?"_

So Areyn found herself in an empty room, taking tests on a hologram. After getting over the novelty, she found that it was as boring and uninteresting as taking tests on paper or a computer. She found it oddly comforting that some things never changed.

Areyn rushed through the mathematics evaluation and moved onto the language arts evaluation. She wasn't quite sure why Remnant, or at least Vale, used the English language in speech and writing, but she would gladly count her lucky stars. (Maybe it had something to do with RWBY the show, maybe it didn't. Who knew and who cared?)

Areyn slammed the 'FINISH' button and closed her scroll—an action that involved the satisfying feeling of collapsing two metal grips together. She'd received the scroll from Professor Ozpin, who had told her that all Beacon students were provided with a school device. Well, Areyn certainly wasn't complaining. The scroll was cool—and way more advanced than anything on Earth.

Areyn stood up and pushed her chair into the desk. Then she began walking down to the amphitheater. A quick glance at the time told her that the First Year Announcements had started a while ago—and Areyn just hope that she didn't lose her way around Beacon. She couldn't care less about the Announcements—she wasn't planning to be a top student at Beacon, after all.

The amphitheater was nearly empty. That was the first thing Areyn noticed. The lights had been dimmed so she couldn't get an exact number, but she counted maybe less than a hundred students. It wasn't hard finding Pyrrha, who had sat in the back.

Areyn caught Professor Ozpin at the end of his announcement, "—Team GRNT. Led by Falcon Grey."

Areyn waved a hand in Pyrrha's face, catching her attention. Pyrrha started, then gave her a half-smile. Areyn couldn't find any other members of the RWBY the show squad near Pyrrha—who was actually sitting alone in the back row. Areyn joined her. They could be the uncool kids together.

"Jaune Arc. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. Russell Thrust. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JSBR, lead by...Jaune Arc."

Areyn blinked. She looked up at the holograms and found the face of the leader of Team JNPR in another world. She turned her attention back at the stage and found a blond in generic knight armor. Of course, she knew that Jaune had been missing in action but that didn't make the change in team make-up in less—well actually, what was she expecting? Jaune had to have gone  _somewhere._

Russell clapped Jaune on the back and Jaune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly—okay fine,  _that_ was weird. Areyn had suffered through the Jaundice arc more than enough times on her RWBY rewatches and she'd gotten used to the generic bullies known as Team CDNL—who had a tendency to make Jaune's life harder than necessary. So what had suddenly made Jaune and Russell buddies?

Team JSBR left the stage together in a way that made them look like a group of old buddies. Areyn was honestly stupefied. She looked to Pyrrha for support. Pyrrha had her eyes firmly attached to Jaune's back.

_Oh lord, she still has a crush on the guy!_

"Areyn Jet."

Pyrrha stood. She motioned for Areyn. Areyn was already on her feet—and she felt blood rush to her head as she walked down the auditorium, Pyrrha behind her.

"Blake Nightshade."

Wait—Blake  _Nightshade?_

"Pyrrha Nikos."

Areyn hurried up the stairs and speed-walked to the center of the stage. She'd really rather get this over with as soon as possible.

"And Yang Xiao-Long."

Areyn watched Yang and Blake climb up the stairs. She stared at Blake mostly—because apparently something went wrong with Remnant and Blake got a last-name switch. What was that about? Actually—

Why were Yang and Blake's names being called? They didn't belong here. Ren and Nora should be in their spot. So Team JNPR could form with the 'J' from Areyn's last-name? Right? That was what was supposed to happen? So canon wasn't  _too_  screwed?

But Ozpin continued like nothing was seriously wrong. "The four of you received the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team  _ABYN..._ lead by  _Areyn Jet."_

Ozpin's eyes were hidden behind his spectacles, revealing none of his feelings. His face was flat and his voice stayed monotone.

Areyn, dreading, pulled out the relic from her pocket. It was—

—a white knight.

The white knight—

— _Ruby_ was supposed to have taken.

Areyn had thrown canon into the fire  _without even meaning to._

She walked off of the stage, dazed. The auditorium seemed to fade into the background—Areyn too busy hearing her own heartbeat.

And well, she was already back to her seat before she realized that she hadn't said a single word to her new  _Team. Team?_

And—wait,  _Leader? Leader? Like, leading Leader?_

_Oh shit._

"And finally: Lie Ren. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWRN...lead by Ruby Rose!"

_Oh shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Areyn messed things up. =)
> 
> And Blake's last-name thing will be revealed...eventually.
> 
> Beta'd by Bro.


	5. Back to School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Wordlessly, because she was still in a daze, Areyn swiped her scroll over the keypad. It lit green. She opened the door to Dorm 27.

"Sorry—gotta get my stuff in there. Hope you guys don't mind," Yang said, towing a literal  _cart_ of luggage. No wonder why Team RWBY resorted to bunk-beds, with Weiss being a Schnee and Yang's... _problem._

"No, it's okay," Pyrrha said.

And that was how Areyn became the unofficial door holder.

Luckily, both Pyrrha and Blake had normal-sized luggage. Or well, Pyrrha had two large suitcases and Blake had a single medium one and they were tame compared to whatever the hell Yang had managed to drag into Beacon.

Areyn felt a little self-conscious about having nothing but the clothes on her back—but then, no one else woke up in another world that day, so she had an excuse.

Yang was dumping suitcases, duffle bags, and backpacks on the nearest bed she found—the bed closest to the door on the right side—when Areyn closed the door behind her.

The dorm room was bigger than Areyn thought it would be, its size only a little smaller than your average classroom in high school. There were four beds, two on each side of the room. A bookcase sat below the large, ornate window at the back of the room and a long study desk was on the left side of the entrance. On the right side, there was a closet in the wall and an open door leading to the bathroom.

Areyn couldn't help but comment on Yang's stuff. "...Do you have a hoarding problem or something?"

Yang looked up, holding a giant yellow teddy bear in one hand and a hairdryer in another. "You know what? Maybe."

Blake eyed the teddy bear as she silently stalked towards the bed in front of Yang's.

"Okay, so…" Areyn quickly claimed the only bed left next to a window. "...We should uh, unpack and stuff?"

Areyn did  _not_ know how to do this leading thing. Was she supposed to start ordering her team around? Give suggestions? Stay quiet and let them figure things out themselves? Areyn liked the third option the best.

Pyrrha nodded, taking the only bed left open. "Areyn...Did you forget your suitcases?"

"I left them in another world."

"Excuse me?"

Areyn shook her head. "I mean...I don't have any."

_That_ caught their attention. Blake tilted her head. Yang stopped trying to set up her vacuum cleaner robot-thing (where had that come from?). Pyrrha frowned.

"It's nothing, really," Areyn felt her face heat up. "I just...thought Beacon had everything?"

Yang started to say something, but she was cut-off by Pyrrha. "That makes sense." Pyrrha had a weird expression on her face. Areyn couldn't place it. It was like...a sorry look? Pity? Understanding? What the hell? Then it was gone and Pyrrha just looked like she was thinking. "Classes start tomorrow. We should turn in early."

Why wasn't Pyrrha leader again? Areyn thought.

"Man, why couldn't they give us a few days off?" Yang griped. Her vacuum suddenly turned on with a roar. Blake started and flailed. Yang slammed the 'off' button. "Whoops! Haha…So yeah, I don't get why they don't just put the Initiation on a Friday."

Blake glared at the vacuum cleaner. "...To test us?"

"What day is it?" Areyn wondered though she actually wanted to ask 'What the hell? The days of the week transcends worlds?'.

"Thursday," said Blake offhandedly. She moved her suitcase to the corner and pulled out a book. Apparently satisfied with her unpacking, she lay on her bed and began reading.

Well. 10/10 for efficiency.

Then again, all Areyn had to (could) do was get in her own bed so…

But she couldn't just go to sleep. Areyn hadn't shared a room with anyone in...well, awhile. The last time she'd even been in the same room with more than one person for an extended period of time was when she graduated high school—and that was three years ago. Then she had promptly shut herself off from the rest of the world.

And now she was in school. Again.

Areyn hated school with a burning passion.

Speaking of… "Where're our schedules?" Areyn asked Pyrrha, because Yang seemed pretty preoccupied setting up the bathroom. "If I remember correctly, those are important."

Pyrrha was stocking the bookshelf. "That's right, you missed most of the Entrance Ceremony… We'll get them on our scrolls tomorrow."

"...Did I miss anything else important?"

"I don't think so. Not anything you shouldn't already know, at least."

Areyn twitched. Considering the fact that all she knew about Beacon and Remnant as a whole came from an increasingly unreliable source, RWBY the show (and she should really find something better to call that by), Areyn probably didn't know a quarter of the things she  _should_ know.

Also, it irritated the hell out of Areyn that she didn't know much of anything.

She should rectify that.

So Areyn took out her scroll, found the Remnant equivalent of the internet, and typed 'important things to know about remnant'. She got a bunch of useless science articles and fun facts.

...This might take a lot longer than she thought.

* * *

The process of waking up was one of the worst things you could experience. Which sucked, because you had to do it every day.

Areyn woke up to a generic alarm.

She had not set up an alarm the night before.

And wait—the ceiling was different?

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Why...Why was there a giant window with red curtains? Areyn's room didn't—

"Pyrrha, I'm gonna visit my sister—Ruby?—okay? Just...wondering how she's doing."

Areyn heard the door open and close.

Fuck. It hadn't been a dream.

Well, she already established that when she died, but...she had hoped.

Then Areyn decided to get her ass out of bed and  _get ready for school._

She almost didn't recognize the person in the mirror. Areyn hadn't bothered to check her reflection for a long time and it showed. She was a mess. Her dark red hair looked like the equivalent of a bush. She had dark shadows under her eyes—eyes that looked more brown-red than brown—and really, her freckles didn't help much.

Also, she was still wearing her pajamas—which had been ripped open in more than a few places when she had been dying.

Areyn shook her head, brushed her teeth, splashed water on her face, used the bathroom, and walked out.

Then she noticed that Blake and Pyrrha were wearing uniforms. She checked the closet. There was a rack of Beacon uniforms—black suits with golden trimmings—in a variety of sizes. They were separated into two sections. The female version, made obvious by the paid skirts, on the left side and the male version with ties on the right side.

Areyn took the smallest sized men's wear. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing a skirt.

Areyn found herself back in the bathroom and wondering how a person ties a tie. But as it turned out, the internet was useful in all worlds.

"Areyn, the schedules are posted," Pyrrha told her when she walked out of the bathroom, one impromptu tie later. Pyrrha was in a thinking pose—a hand on her chin—and looking at her scroll. "I thought you'd like to know? Oh, and classes start in thirty minutes...I hope Yang remembers. Blake, were you placed in any advanced classes?"

Blake looked up from her book. "Hn...Second-Year History and Third-Year English."

"Third-Year? That's really impressive," said Pyrrha. "I only have Second-Year Mathematics."

Blake did not bother to respond. Had she been this quiet in Volume I? Areyn couldn't remember, not really, when she had recently watched Volume Five Blake set her own house on fire and make inspirational speeches to the people of Menagerie.

Areyn fiddled with her tie as she practically tripped to her side of the room. She couldn't help it, her new shiny dress shoes were  _so_ not combat ready.

Areyn found her scroll and opened it.

NOTIFICATION: FIRST-YEAR SCHEDULES

She skimmed her schedule.

SCHEDULE

PERIOD I - GRIMM STUDIES I: ROOM 009

PERIOD II - ENGLISH IV: ROOM 029

PERIOD III - REG. & LAW I: ROOM 008

PERIOD IV - HISTORY I: ROOM 010

PERIOD V - SCIENCE II: ROOM 016

PERIOD VI - MATHEMATICS III: ROOM 024

PERIOD VII - TRAINING I: AMPHITHEATER

PERIOD VIII - TRAINING I: AMPHITHEATER

...Not bad for someone who hadn't been to school in three years, Areyn decided.

Pyrrha walked over. "How well did you place, Areyn? I hope you don't mind...I'm trying to see how many classes we have together."

"Fourth-Year English, Second-Year Science, Third-Year Math," Areyn said, feeling a bit smug.

"That's...amazing," Pyrrha said. "Academics must be your strong suit."

_And nothing else,_ Areyn thought drily.

Yang burst into the room. "Guys! We need to get moving if we don't want to miss breakfast!" She checked her scroll. "In ten minutes!"

Areyn blinked slowly. Blake was suddenly at the door, dragging Yang out of the room behind her. Areyn got the memo and quickly followed them. Pyrrha scrambled for her supplies.

* * *

The dorms were on the second floor—and by the time Team ABYN made it to the cafeteria, class would be in session in two minutes.

"Okay, okay," Pyrrha said, trying to do damage control. Yang was trying to forcibly stuff pancakes down her throat. Blake nearly threw up her milky. "Uh...Let's see. We all have Grimm Studies I first period. Does anyone know where Room Nine is?"

Areyn stared at Pyrrha vacantly. She had a moral dilemma on her hand. On the one hand, Areyn couldn't care less about Beacon (and then some), on the other, she didn't really want to start off the year late. Well—she didn't really want to spend a year here, but then...it couldn't hurt to give a good impression, right? But—

Aaaand Blake had already found a map of Beacon on her scroll.

Team ABYN raced for Grimm Studies I.

They took a wrong turn on the way and had to backtrack.

When they finally reached the study hall—located  _somewhere_ in the castle, Areyn couldn't tell anymore—they were six minutes late.

Pyrrha had been hyperventilating for all of those six minutes. Areyn had to hear all of it.

Areyn stumbled into a desk and sat down. The rest of her Team (that will  _never_  get less weird to say) followed suit.

Professor Port—a man that looked almost exactly like his show counterpart, with the exception of small, squinted eyes instead of closed ones—was taking attendance. "Weiss Schn—Oh, it seems another Team has decided to grace us with their presence!"

"Sorry, sir!" Pyrrha exclaimed. She had turned red.

"Hey, sis," Yang said, turning around and giving Ruby a wave. "Were you guys late?"

"Nope!" Ruby said at the same time Weiss said, " _Yes."_

"By a minute," Ren clarified.

"Ice Princess had a heart-attack!" Nora chirped. Then she shot a hand into the air and said "Here!" when Professor Port called her name.

Yang glanced at Pyrrha, who was frantically writing down notes. "Yeah...Someone on my team might have one too…"

Areyn watched Team JSBR run into the classroom in their pajamas and decided that school hadn't changed too much since she'd graduated—it just got even crazier.

* * *

Fourth-Year English was in another hall.

The Fourth-Year Hall.

Yeah, Areyn wasn't too shocked by this revelation either. She was nervous about leaving the ever-dependable and proxy-leader Pyrrha, but she managed to find the Beacon map on her scroll. It even had a little pointer showing where Areyn was.

Fourth-Year English was nearly empty and Areyn had to check if she had arrived early. She was on-time. And apparently, so was Professor Port.

Areyn found an empty bench in the corner of the room. She counted only nine other students in the giant lecture hall when Professor Port began talking.

"Attention, ladies and gentlemen! As you all well know, the First-Years had their Initiation the day before—and per Beacon tradition, were thrust into the school curriculum the day right after!" Professor Port said, stroking his mustache. Areyn received a few pitying glances from the students who bothered to look up.

"As such, I would like to introduce Areyn Jet, First-Year and your new classmate. Now, Areyn, classes started two weeks before so you'd better catch up soon!" Professor Port said. "That's all I have to say today, you know what to do!" The Professor dropped into the Professor's chair and began scrolling though his, well, scroll.

Areyn blinked. Eh…?

What?

School was a lot more hands-on and vague than she remembered!

* * *

"It was weird," Areyn said to Pyrrha. "There was barely anyone in English...and Professor Port said classes started two weeks ago."

They were walking from Regulation & Law I to History I.

"Well—most of the students were probably on missions," Pyrrha guessed. "And it's well-known that the Beacon Initiation occurs two weeks after the first day of the new semester."

"What? Why the hell would anyone do that?" Areyn asked. She found herself in an unusually talkative mood thanks to her... _frustrating_ English class experience. "Why not put it in the summer?"

Pyrrha stared at her. "...The summer? Areyn, it's springtime."

"Eh?"

Areyn would later found out that it was February. The Remnant school-year was out of whack. Clearly. (Or maybe that was the American part of her talking.)

* * *

There was a fifty-minute lunch break after fourth period. Somehow, Areyn found herself sitting at a lunch table with Team JSBR.

See, they had bonded in History—with their shared lack of knowledge, that is. Areyn spent most of the class wondering what the hell was going on and trying to separate religion and history.

" _Weren't there two gods or something?" Areyn asked out loud._

" _... .Yousee,peoplebelieveinthegods,butthereisboevidenceoftheiractualexistence...nowIunderstandifyoudo…"_

" _I'm an atheist."_

" _Ohwell…thatsnice?" Professor Oobleck looked very confused._

Or 'known-history', at least. Areyn wondered if Professor Oobleck knew about Ozpin—probably not. Maybe the rest of the staff (minus Glynda) were in the dark?

Areyn speared her pasta with a fork.

She had not enjoyed History.

"Wow, what did the pasta ever do to you?" Jaune asked. He sat across from Areyn—and Areyn tried her hardest to ignore the heart-eyes Pyrrha was giving the guy (gross).

"...A lot of things," Areyn said darkly, which was really a blatant lie. The pasta was innocent.

"Okayyyy."

Jaune was an okay dude, really. He was...well, he was  _normal_ and Areyn could use a normal after Pyrrha the fake-Spartan, Yang the hoarder, and Blake the...Blake.

And Jaune's teammates were also normal...mostly.

Sky, the fancy blue-haired one, was busy telling a dramatic, poetic tale of his own awesomeness. Dove did not look impressed. Russell was cursing at his scroll and Areyn got the feeling that he'd already begun downloading random shit onto his school device.

So normal school stuff.

Yeah, she could get used to this.

Yang had Team RWRN at the table right beside them. Blake had got all the space in the world on her and Yang's side of the table.

And Pyrrha more than appreciated the company...

* * *

Areyn decided that Team CFVY was kind of scary. Or at least Team CF_Y, Velvet was missing.

In fact, they kind of dominated Second-Year Science. They sat in the front row, at the center, and they had an aura of intimidation and power.

Like...well, like the popular kids you found on Earth. But...1000% more dangerous. But they weren't unlikeable. They were cool. Yeah, that was the word to describe it. They were  _cool._

Like, Coco still had her sunglasses on. In a lecture hall. And Professor Peach—this short, well-dressed high-class woman with bright orange hair—just let it slide. That was  _cool._

Even Weiss was intimidated.

Oh yeah, apparently the Schnee Heir made it into Science II. Areyn made no attempts to talk to the uptight girl (and best character of RWBY the show) and Weiss didn't make any attempts to talk to her. Areyn had seen Weiss brush off other first-years (Jaune) with sharp jabs and she didn't want to be at the receiving end of  _that_ shitshow.

* * *

Areyn was beginning to think that Pyrrha was getting tired of her questions. In fact, Pyrrha had already developed a habit of getting in her thinking pose whenever Areyn was around. To be fair, Areyn  _did_ spend most of the lunch break trying to dig the history of Remnant out of Pyrrha...

_But_ Areyn didn't have a question this time! It was a miracle, yes—but Pyrrha didn't lose her thinking pose when Areyn spoke. "There was a Team in Second-Year...Team CFVY? They're—"

Pyrrha blinked. "Team CFVY? They're in-school?"

"Well, yeah—"

"Ah, I should've known," Pyrrha said. "Now that I think about it, a girl that looked like Velvet Scarlatina was in the First-Year classes…"

"What? Are they a big deal or something?" Areyn asked.

And Pyrrha frowned. "They're ranked second in the Beacon Team Rankings. Coco Adel is a celebrity, Fox Alastair an icon for the disabled community, Yatsuhashi Daichi a powerhouse known for his brute strength  _and_ tactical mind, and Velvet Scarlatina...She wasn't accepted into Beacon on recommendation alone for nothing. So yes, one could say they're a 'big deal'."

"Oh," Areyn said.

Somehow, the conversation had ended up in Pyrrha answering a question anyway.

* * *

Training lasted for two periods. A hundred full minutes. A hundred minutes of pure hell. Well, Areyn had been dreading it since she saw it on her schedule but...It exceeded expectations.

In the bad way.

First, she had been expected to carry a weapon.

She did not have a weapon. That sort of thing tended to be frowned upon on Earth (though she did have a cool-looking but impractical dagger she bought off eBay and hadn't touched in a year) and really, most of Earth's weapons would've looked like toys compared to Ruby's scythe or Weiss's Myrtenaster.

Professor Goodwitch gave Areyn an old broadsword with a revolver handle. Areyn was worried about hurting herself.

Then they were expected to change into combat outfits.

Areyn did not have a combat outfit. The only outfit she had other than the school-provided one was her ripped pajamas and she had a feeling Professor Goodwitch wouldn't be too happy if she appeared in those.

Professor Goodwitch simply stared at her, muttered some things about  _incompetence, idiocy,_ and  _Headmaster,_ and told Areyn to fight in her uniform as best she could.

Apparently, Areyn couldn't skip testing day.

Which was just as well, because she utterly failed testing day.

She  _did_ hurt herself with her sword—slicing herself more than once and causing a slight panic when she only managed to not fall on her sword by doing an awkward split. She had promptly actually caused a panic when she slashed open the arteries in her arm and got sent to the nurse.

But by the time found the nurse's office, her arm had healed itself. The nurse sent her straight back to Training thinking Areyn had tried to skip class. Areyn cursed at her arm for all the trouble it caused her but she was just trying to, well—she couldn't unsee the  _blood, blood, blood_ ooze out of the slit in her skin—

She ran and threw up in a toilet. Her hand shook.

The nurse didn't get it.

Areyn's wound might have healed—but it still  _hurt._

Even if it looked fine.

And besides, she remembered how much it had hurt.

It was kind of scary actually—

Because she didn't mind it as much as literally dying.

What the hell?

That wasn't normal. You shouldn't—Areyn shouldn't be getting used to this crap.  _All_ this crap.

It was only her second day.

_Dammit, I want out (that was fucking embarrassing). Out of Beacon. Before things really go to shit. Out of Remnant would be the preferable option._

But she couldn't—couldn't get out of Beacon or Remnant—so she walked out of the bathroom with a scary expression on her face and a swagger. Fake it till you make it, they said. Well, Areyn would try.

Areyn frowned. Her sleeve was ripped.  _Fuck—I need a new uniform._

* * *

"Ozpin, I have known you for...longer than I should and I have watched you make countless  _choices,_ as such, I hate to say it, but this…well, this  _choice_ is just idiotic."

Headmaster Ozpin slid his scroll to the side and intertwined his fingers. He ignored Glynda's remark. "...It's fascinating, no? Such a... _specific_ Semblance."

Glynda Goodwitch sighed. "I have no right criticizing your  _choices._ I am your enabler, after all—But you are playing a very dangerous game, Ozpin. And I'm not sure if you know enough of what you're doing this time."

"...Your opinion is duly noted."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Otherwise known as, "Areyn is not adjusting."
> 
> Beta'd by bro.
> 
> And hey, I opened a Patreon for writers!: www.patreon/arosz


	6. Setting Her Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Two weeks into the semester, Areyn was dying. Well—not literally dying (occasionally getting stabbed, yes, but not  _that, that)._

She aced all of the non-physical curriculums. And Areyn found herself having to because she was failing Training—the most important class in Beacon—with an impressive sixteen. She was sure her sixteen came from her newfound ability to hold a sword the right way.

Jaune had a better grade.

Areyn knew. She checked.

"Uh, Areyn? The steak," Jaune told her.

Areyn looked down at her paper plate. She didn't know  _why_ she decided to have steak. She hated the stuff and so she had no problems with murdering it in cold blood.

"...Don't worry about it," Areyn told the blonde.

They'd become quite close with their shared suckery at Training—and Professor Goodwitch usually paired them together. Areyn had the feeling that the blond was just glad that there was someone even worse than him. It was probably a great confidence booster.

She wasn't being fair though. Jaune was...adequate company, even if Areyn hadn't liked him much (read: at all) in RWBY the show.

"Areyn? We're friends right?" Jaune asked suddenly.

Areyn declined to comment.

Jaune scratched the back of his head. A round of mash potato—courtesy of another mini-food fight between Yang and _SBR—flew pass him.

"Okay, I'm going to take that as a 'yes'," Jaune said. "I need your help."

Areyn took a spoonful of mash potato from her plate and motioned for Jaune to continue with a raised eyebrow.

"Um...I'm not really  _from_ around here and I got lost yesterday so I'd really appreciate it if you'd be my tour guide."

Areyn paused in the middle of chewing her mashed potato. She swallowed the food. "Where's here?"

"Beacon…? Or Vale, I guess." Jaune looked embarrassed.

"Ask Pyrrha," Areyn told him automatically—Pyrrha had become her default answer to most things and hey, this time Areyn had a good cause in mind. Besides her, Pyrrha perked up.

Jaune frowned. "But Pyrrha's from Mistral."

"I am familiar with Vale," Pyrrha said quickly. "I arrived in the city two months before the Initiation."

"Yeah," Areyn drawled, adding proverbial fire to the cause. "Besides, I'm not from here either."

"Really?" Jaune asked. Dove suddenly rose, blocking a barrage of broccoli from Jaune. "Where're you from?"

Areyn realized that she might've wanted to think of a believable backstory sometime in the past two weeks. "Hm...Ehhh...small town, wouldn't have heard of it."

She made a mental note to get a backstory for herself. That might be fun to do.

"Same," Jaune said. "It's kind of unreal—moving to a city."

Areyn nodded along resolutely.

She was from Manhattan.

"Soooo, you and Pyrrha? Vale?" When in doubt, divert attention to another, more meaningful topic.

"Yeah," Jaune faced Pyrrha. "Tomorrow?"

"T-That sounds wonderful."

Areyn eyed Pyrrha's interactions with Jaune. Those two proved to be eternally amusing for everyone other than them. Or at least Blake would certainly agree. The closet-faunus (as Areyn had taken to calling Blake in her mind) peaked over her book with interest.

* * *

On Saturdays, there were no classes (naturally) and therefore, no periods. Thus, students could take as long as they wanted with their food—if they even bothered to stay in Beacon at all.

Areyn wasn't too keen on returning to the ABYN dorm. Pyrrha and Yang were usually out doing something, with Pyrrha at one of the Training Rooms and Yang...doing Yang things, but Blake… The rest of ABYN had gotten the message quickly. Blake wanted to be left alone and she would radiate a negative aura (Areyn had the feeling it was purely out of instinct) if she didn't get her solitude. While Blake and Areyn got along relatively well—through their shared introvertedness and animosity towards mankind—Areyn wasn't too keen on staying around the grumpy closet-faunus.

With her dorm out of the question, Areyn visited the library.

The Beacon Library become her new escape room—the school library always was—and it helped that the library was the size of a large, hollowed out mansion in the shape of a long corridor. Even though students often went to the library to hang out, it never got very crowded.

And Remnant literature was new to Areyn, which was a bit of fresh air. She had been bored by American books ages ago and there were only so many translated manga and light-novels that weren't garbage.

At that moment, she was returning the first book in a series about an emotionally-stunted genius on the wrong side of the law. Maybe genius protagonists reminded Areyn of herself and that was why she had drawn to that series—whatever the case, she was hooked.

Besides, she reasoned, reading young adult fiction helped her understand Remnant's culture better.

Areyn walked down the library, her scroll in her hand with the location of the next book in the series. She slid another tab onto the screen.

BEACON RANKINGS (TEAMS)

I - YEAR FOUR: TEAM SHDW

II - YEAR TWO: TEAM CFVY

III - YEAR FOUR: TEAM VLET

IV - YEAR FOUR: TEAM MASN

V - YEAR THREE: TEAM LHNA

…

Areyn ignored the top five—there was nothing she could gain from knowing about them. Team SHDW and Team CFVY hadn't moved a spot off of first and second respectively since the semester had started and the third-, fourth-, and fifth-placed team regularly shifted ranks with each other. Of the top five, SHDW hadn't been seen in Beacon since the first day (so Pyrrha had said), CFVY left on a mission three days ago, VLET and LHNA were on extended missions, and only MASN was at Beacon and attending classes.

What Areyn  _was_ interested in were the rankings of the first-years—and more importantly, making sure that ABYN wasn't last. At the moment, the first years were all at the bottom of the list. That was understandable, considering that first-years had nearly no team experience and couldn't go on any missions—meaning they were only judged on the sum of the team's individual abilities.

XX - FIRST YEAR: TEAM RWRN

XXI - FIRST YEAR: TEAM ZWST

XXII - FIRST YEAR: TEAM PERL

XXIII - FIRST YEAR: TEAM ABYN

XXIV - FIRST YEAR: TEAM MMNN

XXV - FIRST YEAR: TEAM JSBR

XXVI - FIRST YEAR: TEAM GRNT

Areyn sighed. Her lack of skill hadn't sunk ABYN...yet. She knew very well, more than she could care to admit, that if she wasn't on the team, ABYN would've been at the top of the first-years—and maybe even higher ranked than some of the second-years.

On the individual rankings, Pyrrha was sitting at spot #14 out of 106—nearly unheard of for a first-year in the beginning of the year. Blake placed at #32 and Yang at #39. Compared to RWRN—in which Weiss had #38, Ruby in #44, Nora #52, and Ren at #53—they  _would've_ been superior if it weren't for Areyn. Areyn, with a rank of #99, had only managed to stay below #100-106 thanks to her intelligence and Semblance.

Well...Mostly her Semblance.

Areyn realized that she had been standing in front of the book she was supposed to get for an indefinite amount of time. She took it off the shelf and left.

AREYN JET

STRENGTH: F

DEXTERITY: F

ENDURANCE: F

INTELLIGENCE: A

AURA: F

SEMBLANCE: S

EXPERIENCE: F

An S-ranked Semblance… By all accounts, nearly impossible to see. Even Pyrrha's Polarity only grabbed her a B.

It didn't make Areyn feel any better though. She had no control over her Semblance—and sure, she liked it (it was the only thing keeping her alive, with her skills), but it didn't feel like much of an accomplishment. Just luck. Lucky Areyn—stuck in another world and forced to learn the ways of a huntress because she would be dirt poor and out on the streets if she didn't.

"You alright there, kiddo?" Professor Inkheart, Beacon's very own librarian, asked.

Areyn stared blankly at the old lady. "...Hngh?"

"Someone's not adjusting~" Professor Inkheart said cheerfully. She scanned Areyn's book. "Don't worry, deary—it always gets better."

"Hn?"

"The Vytal Tournament is this year, isn't it?" the Professor asked, suddenly switching topics. She adjusted her owlish glasses. "Oh dear, I'd better start preparing~!"

Professor Inkheart handed Areyn her book and zipped into the backroom.

"Hngh?" Areyn blinked. She knew the Professor was famously loony but…

Areyn looked around the library. There were only a few guys playing chest and some loners sitting in corners—and Areyn found Team PERL hanging out at a table on the far right, but that was the extent of the library population that day.

Areyn found a table close to one of the doorways. She pulled out a chair and sat down, placing her scroll on the hologram slot. A small hologram lit up with Areyn's Beacon stats. She quickly closed the tab and looked around.

Sure, everyone who bothered to look far enough into the rankings could see her rank, but that didn't mean Areyn wanted to show off the extent of her suckery.

Areyn sagged into her chair. She flicked the hologram—it was still a bit of a giddy novelty for her and she wondered if Remnant had advanced VR. Areyn decided not to find out. She was dirt broke and she had no intention of finding out about something she'd want to spend nonexistent money on.

WHITE FANG RESPONSIBLE FOR SDC TRAIN ATTACK?!

WOMAN SPOTTED ATTEMPTING TO STEAL CABBAGES!

WHAT'S TEAM SHDW OF BEACON BEEN UP TO?

DUST ROBBERIES CONTINUE…(PROTECT YOUR STOCK!)

...

Areyn found some sort of comfort in knowing that Vale's news system was as broken as the United States and she could continue her obsession with collecting information on the state of the world that had no impact on her own life. It was quite cathartic—especially when the news acted like a sitcom half the time and a horror movie the other half.

The Schnee Dust Company raid wasn't anything new, though conservative media outlets seem to be milking it for all it was worth. Areyn had already given the story her attention last week—and it was endlessly amusing knowing that one of the raid's perpetrators roomed with her—so she set aside that story for when she felt bored or even more depressed than usual.

She did the same for the cabbage story. It was sure to be a good laugh.

Areyn skimmed through the story with Team SHDW. She had never seen the golden students of Beacon herself—but apparently, they were quite famous. Huntsman in Vale were celebrities and the people treated them like it. The article claimed that SHDW was taking a confidential mission on the outskirts of Vale—and then it promptly derailed into a debate on which of the members was the strongest. Areyn personally thought Wyn Arach was the most capable person on the team, but that was quite the unpopular opinion so she didn't bother commenting.

She swiped pass the SHDW story and onto the dust robberies. That week, someone(s) had decided to rob CastMarts—Remnant's equivalent to ShopRite, CVS, BJs, and the like—around the kingdom. People were generally more upset about their newfound dust shortages than the fact that their convenience stores clearly needed better security though.

Areyn wondered if Cinder from RWBY the show was the mastermind behind these attacks, with Torchwick and Neo carrying out the busywork. She didn't like that thought much. It meant that Cinder was one step closer to the plot and Areyn would be somewhere in the crossfire.

Four more news articles appeared in her feed.

HUNTSMAN QROW BRANWEN FOUND DRUNK (AGAIN)! SHOULD THE OLD CROW FINALLY RETIRE?

THIS TREND HAS CAPTURED THE CHILDREN OF VALE: SLINKIES!

'MYSTERIOUS WOMEN ALWAYS FOUND AT THE SITE OF DUST ROBBERIES!' CLAIMS CONSPIRACY THEORIST PEPPER LESTER

SINGER APRIL FLORENCE ACCUSED OF SLAPPING HER BOYFRIEND TOO HARD

...

Areyn wondered if maybe she should stop digging herself into the pit known as Remnant's news feed.

Nah.

* * *

It was dark by the time Areyn finally left the library. She was in a genuinely good mood—something quite rare to find her in.

Why?

Her scouring the news to feed her hunger for information had led her to Remnant's equivalent of YouTube.

_Yes._

And the best part? YourSpace had its own collection of cat videos and memes that Areyn had never been exposed to.

Sure, Areyn would probably be a bit... _occupied_  for the next few weeks, but it was all worth it. Really.

"...I see. And what do you propose we do, Ms. Rose?"

Areyn halted to a stop at the corner of the hallway.

"Well...I don't know. I just thought it was important. For you. Y'know, to know. I mean, I guess Professor Goodwitch already told you—"

"Oh no, I assure you. This is all quite new...Your perspective makes the situation...vastly different."

Areyn peeked around the corner. She saw the back of Ruby's cloak and Professor Ozpin's mess of silver hair. That...she didn't want to interrupt whatever conversation they were having. There was only one problem. That hallway was the only way Areyn knew how to get her to her dorms.

"I'm really happy I could help! Sometimes, I get this feeling that something is important…"

"Hm...Ms. Rose, what do you feel about helping me?"

"Helping you?"

"With this investigation. Of course, your team is more than welcomed to join."

"Wow. Is this like a super promotion or something? Are we going to go on secret missions like Team SHDW? Spy on people? Attack secret bases? Fight super strong Grimm?"

"Well...Team RWRN  _is_ the best performing first-year team…However, I'm not sure if all of your expectations are based on reality…"

"That wasn't a 'no'! I've got to tell Yang—"

"I'd prefer it if this is kept between your team and me. It might seem unfair to the other first-years, no?"

"Oh...I guess. I don't think Yang'd think it's unfair though…"

"The less that know, the better. Speaking of, it's only a matter of time before someone stumbles upon us. Shall we take this conversation to my office?"

Areyn heard footsteps slowly fade away and the 'ding' of an elevator. Then the hallway was silent except for Areyn's breathing. It was quite audible.

"Boo!"

"Gah!" Areyn wouldn't admit that she screamed (she did) and nearly fell—but if she  _did,_ she'd blame it on Yang. The blonde appeared from nowhere and had apparently thought it was a good idea to scare the living shit out of Areyn.

"Oh gods, sorry," Yang said in between laughing. "I didn't—I didn't think I'd actually scare you."

"...You did," Areyn muttered. She flailed in a failed attempt to collect herself. Areyn decided to walk around the corner so she could avoid Yang seeing her shock.

"Hey—wait up!" Yang caught up to her. "Really, sorry. I won't do it again. It's kind of a joke I made with Ruby when we were kids."

"Huh," Areyn voiced.

Yang ran a hand through her hair. "...But we all grow up so fast, huh?" she murmured. Louder, she said, "So what's up? We don't talk much and all...but you're supposed to be the team leader so…"

Areyn flinched. She didn't like to be reminded of her (technical) status—especially when Pyrrha did a much better job than she could ever do.

"...Nothing," Areyn said. "I was in the library." She decided not to mention whatever Ruby was saying to Ozpin.

"Man, with you and Blake on the team, it's hard to get anything rolling," Yang said. She let Areyn press the elevator button. "And all Pyrrha wants to do is train and do homework."

Areyn didn't bother to respond.

"I've got an idea," Yang suddenly said. "I need to take all of you to a club."

Areyn made a face. A club? With a bunch of  _people?_ "Uh...no. That's not really my thing…"

' _Ding!'_ the elevator doors open. Areyn and Yang stepped in.

"Exactly." Yang pressed the button to the second floor. "It's not really Blake's or Pyrrha's thing either—but that's exactly why the three of you are going. Besides, I know this place…"

"...Really. Does this place have anything against you we should know about?" The last thing Areyn wanted was a bunch of guns pointed at her face courtesy of Yang.

"Um…"

"I'm not going," Areyn said darkly.

Yang winked. "Yang finds a way."

' _Ding!'_ the doors opened.

"But not tomorrow," Yang said, thinking out loud. "I gotta spend time with Ruby and her team… Y'know, as unexciting as you, Blake, and Pyrrha are—at least none of you are ice pricks."

"...Thanks," Areyn said drily, following Yang to their dorm. "I'm sure Blake and Pyrrha would appreciate the sentiment…"

"Nah. Pyrrha wouldn't and I don't think Blake'd care," Yang said, grinning. "Couldn't imagine being on a team with ice prick though."

Areyn wondered why Yang was smiling—she also decided to keep the irony of Yang's statement to herself.

" _But_ the princess is kind of fun to tease. She needs to loosen up."

"Mm," Areyn could agree with Yang there.

"Hey, Areyn?" Yang asked.

Areyn tilted her head.

"What's your tolerance for banned stuff?"

Areyn stared at the back of Yang's head. She finally said, "...Don't show it to Pyrrha."

"Got it. Thanks."

"Help me," was Blake's greeting when Areyn opened the door.

A quick look in Pyrrha's direction revealed why. The fake-Spartan had thrown all of her fancy clothes on her bed—the sheer amount of which made Areyn wonder how she had managed to fit anything else into her suitcases.

"What's the occasion?" Yang asked, interested.

"...I don't know," Blake said. Blake sat in her bed, reading—or pretending to read—a book.

"Tomorrow," Pyrrha explained—which was not much of an explanation at all. She held up an extravagant red dress and showed it to the audience—namely Blake, Yang, and Areyn.

Yang grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. "I'm going to need a better explanation, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha turned as red as her dress. "U-Uh… I-I...Me…"

"I set her up with Jaune," Areyn said bluntly. "Not that Jaune got the memo."

"So a not-date date," Yang summarized, rubbing her hands like an evil mastermind.

"Sure." Areyn threw her book and her scroll on her bed. She took her pajamas—donated by Pyrrha—and went to the bathroom. She'd let Yang deal with Pyrrha.

"First," she heard Yang say. "You've got to be  _sneaky_ on not-date dates—trust me, I know what I'm doing—let's throw out the—geez, this is  _expensive_ —red dress…"

Areyn closed the door. She could still hear Yang's muffled voice if she tried—but the bathroom became quiet enough for her tastes. She started the shower.

Her mind wandered back to the hallway—with Ruby and Professor Ozpin. What  _had_ that been about? Sure...Team RWBY from RWBY the show always pulled stuff that should've gotten them in trouble, but that was because Ozpin turned a blind eye more often than not. He didn't actively support their escapees. Then again, that investigation Ruby was speaking of could be something stupid. Maybe Russell stole the last slice of pie from the cafeteria again. Yeah, that was probably it.

Areyn hadn't changed events  _that much…_ right?

She shook her head. She didn't need to concern herself with whatever RWRN was up to—and she didn't want to. No point in giving it too much thought.

Areyn took a shower and put on her pajamas. She brushed her teeth and washed her face—pointedly ignoring her reflection with the messy curly hair and permanently angry eyes. She opened the door, her towel still in her hand.

Pyrrha appeared in front of Areyn and shook her by the shoulders. She immediately dropped her hands and apologized, "I'm sorry—I forgot, you don't like physical contact."

"No?" Areyn's statement came out more like a question. Her brain was still trying to figure out why Pyrrha had been shaking her by the shoulders in the first place.

"Areyn," Pyrrha said.

"Yes?" Areyn asked.

"Tomorrow, for Vale, I require your services as a 'third-wheel'."

"Eh?"

Yang gave Pyrrha two thumbs-ups—which was quite useless as Pyrrha was facing away from her. This also meant that Areyn was the one who received the thumbs-ups, not Pyrrha. Areyn did not appreciate the sentiment.

Pyrrha frowned. She began to explain, "Yang suggested this idea to me, see. In her words, she stated that I clearly couldn't function properly by myself—"

Areyn raised a hand, the same hand that happened to be holding a wet towel. "No, no. I get it."

"Then why—"

"Well. I was wondering 'why me?' and cursing my life when I realized that my plan to stay in Beacon tomorrow (and for the rest of the foreseeable future) had completely backfired. This is what I get for trying to do good things."

Areyn frowned. "Oh crap. I said all of that out loud, didn't I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> This chapter really spiraled out of control. It was supposed to describe the entire weekend but…*shrug* this is going to be a two-parter!
> 
> Beta'd by Bro
> 
>  
> 
> How do you use tense correctly? [Free] essay: www.patreon/arosz
> 
> See ya ~ Aros


	7. An Introduction to Vale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shattered Feelings
> 
> Volume I - Chapter VII: An Introduction to Vale
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

"This works out very well," Pyrrha told Areyn. She fiddled with her sleeves. "You haven't had a chance to truly visit Vale anyways, correct?"

"No," Areyn admitted, rubbing her eyes.

She didn't know what gave Pyrrha the bright idea of waking up at 5 o'clock on the  _damn weekend,_ but here Areyn was, dragged out of bed and made acting third-wheel. Hoorah. She made a mental note to talk to Yang about giving Pyrrha 'advice' in the future...specifically ones involving Areyn.

Pyrrha couldn't stop fidgeting with her sleeves. She wore a tan coat over a red undershirt and navy jeans. In one hand, she was holding a fancy tan carrying bag.

That was all well and good and Areyn decided that Yang had decent fashion-sense (not that Areyn would know) but...apparently Areyn  _couldn't_  be a shabbily dressed third-wheel. Yang let (read: made) her borrow a leather jacket, grey leggings, and combat boots.

There had been a bit of a problem when Yang realized that she was nearly a foot taller than Areyn and any of her clothes might run the risk of drowning Areyn. Yang's solution had been to get Areyn Ruby's clothes.

Which meant  _Ruby_ had a leather jacket. Wow.

 _Still kinda big though…_ Areyn thought absentmindedly, following Pyrrha and Jaune to the air shuttles.

Jaune looked as tired as Areyn felt. He yawned. "Was it...Was it  _really_ necessary for us to leave at  _6:30?_ "

"...You didn't wake up at five," Areyn told him, monotone.

Pyrrha winced. "Sorry...I won't do it again."

"So how do these shuttle things work?" Areyn asked. Might as well keep herself distracted.

Pyrrha led them to a docking bay. Docking Bay 5, apparently, if the hologram control panel was to be believed. A fat white air shuttle sat on the docking bay. It was shaped like a helicopter—except it had no propellers. Instead, it had two dust-powered turbines on each side.

"We can rent out a shuttle," Pyrrha explained, "as students of Beacon Academy—but the system is first come, first serve."

Areyn looked across the campus. Team MASN appeared from the main entrance. The members of GRNT raced to a docking bay. Some upper year students Areyn couldn't place were taking a leisurely stroll to Docking Bay 12.

"Wow, competitive," Jaune said. He sagged and sighed. "Like the rest of the school…"

"Really?" Pyrrha asked. "I don't feel it."

Jaune and Areyn shared a look. Pyrrha had nothing to worry about, but Jaune and Areyn were on the verge of taking extra classes with Professor Goodwitch. And Areyn had heard that Beacon had a history of kicking out underperforming student to keep its integrity as the best Huntsmen Academy in the Kingdom.

Pyrrha swiped her scroll on the hologram. The air shuttle's door slid open.

"It's set to Vale," Pyrrha said offhandedly. She waited for Jaune and Areyn.

Areyn raced for the window-seat. She quickly found out that the action was unnecessary. The air shuttle interior had been designed for transporting four teams of Huntsmen. Two rows of seats lined each side of the aircraft—for a total of four rows in total.

Pyrrha found the hologram on the back of the empty pilot's seat and pressed 'ready'.

Jaune hurried to the back of the ship—pulling a plastic bag from his hoodie. "I am ready!"

The air shuttle lifted into the sky.

* * *

VALE COMMUNITY RADIO

 _REINHART_ : ... _not sure what the world is coming to these days, huh? Dr. Lavender, what do you think of these last string of dust robberies? Any suspects? Motives?_

_DR. LAVENDER: We always have suspects, Mr. Reinhart. However, we're not exactly allowed to disclose any of our suspicions._

_DR. LAVENDER: As for motive… If we take a look at crimes related to dust in the last three months, something becomes quite obvious. These are not random robberies. As many people have theorized already, they seem to be organized._

_REINHART: Organized crime? Like what we had with the Mars Gang a few years back? I thought they were disbanded._

_DR. LAVENDER: They are. And most of the Mars gang leaders have been apprehended._

_REINHART: Most?_

_DR. LAVENDER: ...The rest were found dead._

_REINHART: Oh. Well, uh...We're getting a little off-topic here. Let's turn this back around…_

_DR. LAVENDER: (*cough*) The community has nothing to worry about. Huntsmen veterans are helping the police investigate this particular case._

_REINHART: So...The robberies need Huntsmen investigating too now? How big is this thing?_

_DR. LAVENDER: …_

* * *

If Jaune hadn't been throwing up next to her, Areyn would've thought Vale was kind of a neat city. But Jaune was—and Areyn gave him some awkward silent support from the side.

Areyn looked away. At customs, Pyrrha signed them in with the proper authorities. She frowned and pointed at a scroll on the counter. Areyn wondered what that was about.

"I  _hate_ aircrafts," Jaune declared. He found a water fountain and washed his face.

Areyn gave a noncommittal grunt. Aircrafts made her giddy—the people of Remnants saw them as nothing more than dull public transport, but imagine if Earth had aircrafts instead of Ubers…

Pyrrha walked over to them. She rubbed the side of her head. "Sorry about the hold-up…They had trouble with Areyn's ID."

"Man...What a...pain," Areyn said, chuckling nervously. "Wow…" She walked towards the doors.

"Areyn, that leads to the docking bays."

"...Oops."

Areyn followed Pyrrha through the  _right_ set of doors. Vale...Areyn would describe the city as a weird mix of the Victorian age and the future. There were the blue hologram signs and banners—but the buildings were short and made of stone, with large open windows. They reminded Areyn of the old parts of New York, maybe Jersey City, but there was no comparison between them and modern Earth skyscrapers.

"This is the commercial district," Pyrrha explained, doing her job as the tour guide. "Vale is the third largest city in the world—preceded by Atlas and Mistral. It is divided into multiple sectors, the upper-class district, the commercial district, the industrial dis—"

"Should I be taking notes?" Jaune wondered. His eyes were on the cityscape and he stared at a bakery.

"No!" Pyrrha flushed. "I just thought it would help…"

"Hm. We should've taken a map…" Areyn drawled. She was eyeing the bakery too. It was small and compact compared to the rest of the buildings and it was called Baker's Dream—normal bakery fare, as things went.

Pyrrha realized Areyn and Jaune weren't paying too much attention to her and her spiel on Vale. "The bakery? I was planning on...exploring the city...before we had breakfast."

"I don't know when you have breakfast—" Areyn did. Pyrrha had breakfast at ten (exactly ten) on the weekends. The fake-Spartan was insane. "—but I like my breakfasts in the  _morning_."

They went to Baker's Dream. Jaune apparently felt a little guilty about dragging Pyrrha to the bakery a few hours before her normal breakfast time and offered to pay for everyone.

Areyn found a table. She listened to something called the Vale Community Radio on a public scroll the bakery had. Areyn thought Torchwick had been pretty discreet in RWBY the show, but guess not—especially if the pros were getting involved. Or maybe things changed for the better and the pros would catch Torchwick before he could do anything big.

Jaune dropped two paper bags of baked goods on the table. He slid into the seat across from Areyn and took a muffin out of one of the bags. Pyrrha sat next to Jaune. She stared at the muffin.

Areyn grabbed a bag and looked inside. There were two loaves of raisin bread, a funnel cake, and a pecan pie. Areyn took the funnel cake.

"Alright," Pyrrha said, "I had plans...plans that will still work even with this...altercation."

"Mm," Jaune mumbled.

"First, I planned to take you and Areyn through the commercial district, at least," Pyrrha started, "but on second thought, you can probably figure that out yourself… More importantly, I was thinking about visiting the Huntsmen Exchange—

"...The what?" Areyn asked.

"Wait—I thought only huntsmen can enter the Huntsmen Exchange," said Jaune. "I mean...it's in the name."

"Uh…" Areyn said.

"Yes," Pyrrha said. "I've never actually been in the Huntsmen Exchange either, but we gained permission as Huntsmen- and Huntresses-in-training, though limited."

"What  _is_ the Huntsmen Exchange?" Areyn finally asked.

Pyrrha and even Jaune stared at her like she had turned into a chicken. Or something.

* * *

VALE HUNTSMEN EXCHANGE

—read the hologram banners in front of the pearl building. Areyn thought the building looked more like a fancy monument than anything and maybe that was why the normal folks naturally created a wide berth around it. Or maybe it had something to do with the dangerous looking Huntsmen with dangerous looking weapons constantly walking in and out of the place. Who knows?

Areyn shrank into her leather coat. She was thoroughly uncomfortable walking up the stairs to what was apparently the main avenue for all Huntsmen-related ventures in the Vale Kingdom.

* * *

" _Do you remember the Deathstalker...ah…" Pyrrha suddenly sounded very awkward._

" _...Yeah," Areyn said and left it at that. Those memories were definitely in the 'DON'T TOUCH' pile._

" _We never had the chance to exchange the kill for lien," Pyrrha explained, "I thought it was about time."_

* * *

Jaune, Pyrrha, and Areyn got more than a few confused looks when they walked into the Huntsman Exchange. Well—Jaune and Areyn did. Pyrrha got more recognized looks.

The Huntsmen Exchange opened up to a large hall. Hologram floated in the air and from what Areyn could tell, they were mission boards. Professional Huntsmen walked around the hall, chatting or finding new missions. A long counter of office cubicles sat to the side of the hall. The holograms called them TRADE CENTERS.

Pyrrha gestured for Areyn and Jaune to follow her. They made their way through the hall, towards the TRADE CENTERS.

Pyrrha found an empty trade center. There was an old woman on the other side. She looked bored. "Aren't you kids a little y—Oh? The Mistralian Regional Champion?"

Pyrrha flinched. "Yes."

"Hmm…" The woman lowered her shaded glasses. She shrugged and croaked, "Very well. What do you need today?"

Pyrrha pushed her carrying bag onto the counter. Unlatching the bag, she opened it and took out...Grimm bones.

That couldn't be sanitary, Areyn thought, though she was more preoccupied with just  _gross._

"Five Boarbatusks, four Beowulves…one Deathstalker," Pyrrha said and handed the woman the Grimm bones.

The woman scanned the bones with a device. "Place your scroll on the scroll reader."

Pyrrha did as the woman said.

A hologram appeared on the glass next to the woman.

CLASS E

BOARBATUSK x5 (72.99 li.)

CLASS E

BEOWULF x4 (92.99 li.)

CLASS D

DEATHSTALKER x 1 (578.99 li.)

TOTAL: 1315.90 li.

TAX: 108.56 li

FINAL PAYMENT DUE: 1207.34 li.

The scroll reader buzzed. A green check appeared on Pyrrha's scroll.

"Thank you," Pyrrha said hurriedly. She took her carrying bag and pocketed her scroll. Then they were leaving.

"Woah, you okay, Pyrrha? You look kind of pale," Jaune said.

"...I didn't think anyone would recognize me," Pyrrha muttered. She said louder, "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

She said to Areyn, "Anyway, shall we split the Deathstalker in four? Areyn, you can have my share. I don't need the money."

Areyn sputtered. "N-No! I don't...well, I  _do_ but I don't need  _your_ money. I'll find money myself."

"I insist," Pyrrha...well, Pyrrha  _insisted_. A snowflake landed in her hair and she brushed it off absentmindedly.

That was when Areyn noticed it had begun snowing. She shivered.

She hated the idea of relying on Pyrrha's money (even if it was a share) because she was dirt poor. She hated the idea of having to rely on other people in general. But…

"Fine," Areyn grumbled. She  _did_ want that cash, even if she didn't like where the cash came from.

"Man, we killed a few Grimm too. We didn't remember to bring back the bones though—Actually, I don't think any of us even thought about it," Jaune said, scratching the back of his head. "Makes me kinda wish you were on our team, Pyrrha."

"I can always help if you need me for anything," Pyrrha said, embarrassed. She pulled them into a store before Areyn got the chance to see the name of it. The store was dark, with eery yellow lighting. And—

—it was cluttered with weapons and armor. They hung from the walls, sat on tables, and showed in display cases.

A bell rang, signaling their arrival. A burly hunk of a man appeared from the backroom. He patted out flames on his uniform. The name tag on his uniform said 'SIEG'. "Take your time looking around, lads. Feel free to ask any questio—Ho, it's the Mistralian Regional Champion!"

"Mr. Sieg…" Pyrrha started uncomfortably.

"Mah, Mah. Sorry, Champ. I forgot, I shouldn't make a big deal of it…"

"Woah…" Jaune said, admiring a great axe with what looked like barrels protruding from its head. He mocked a swing and looked at Areyn, grinning.

Areyn shrugged. She wandered around—though she was careful to keep her hands to herself.

"Areyn," Pyrrha said and Areyn jumped. She hadn't seen the fake-Spartan (yes, she was still calling her that) follow her. Pyrrha continued with a quick 'sorry!', "You're in need of a weapon, correct?"

 _And other things,_  Areyn thought, but she nodded mutely.

"This is your chance," Pyrrha said, smiling faintly. "Mr. Seig has some of the best prices on the market. In my opinion, at least."

Areyn looked down at a pair of oversized curved daggers. They were pearlescent black and gleaned with a purple tinge—in other words, they were completely badass. They priced at the (un)affordable rate of 22,000 li.

"Uh huh," Areyn said drily.

Pyrrha corrected herself. "... _Most_ things," she said. Ah...Perhaps you should try the weapons that  _aren't_  the most valuable pieces in the store?"

"I'll do that," Areyn decided, walking away from the display case.

"Wo-ah!" Jaune nearly lost his grip on a broadsword that was quite literally broad.

"Careful, Jaune!" Pyrrha hurried towards the blond.

Areyn found a section labeled 'Beginners', which she thought was at least partially accurate in her case ('Failures' would've been more accurate). The weapons in the 'Beginners' section were pretty standard stuff—which definitely put Areyn at ease. The swords were usually actually swords, the axes were usually actually axes, and the spears were usually actually spears. Areyn even found a few 'just guns'—and she thought it would be pretty funny if she decided to get those and solve most of RWBY's problems by shooting people.

Somehow, the thought was a lot less funny when Areyn realized that she would be the one to shoot people. And anyway, in this world, in real Remnant, there was no way that people didn't have some kind of protection against guns.

Areyn gave the guns a pass. Axes definitely weren't her style. A spear could be cool—except Areyn already tripped on a sword more often than not and she didn't want to know what might happen if she made the pointy thing three times longer.

"Oh, I want that," Jaune said, drooling at the sight of a shiny gold and white lance. "I'll never ever have the money, but a guy can dream…"

Areyn wondered if the world was messed up when all your average joes thought that browsing for weapons was pretty normal. She'd seen a few kids look through the window to the store—and she found some people that definitely weren't Huntsmen checking out the sword-rifles.

Areyn held a few swords in her hand. She didn't try to swing them—she'd rather not scar some people that day (physically  _and_ mentally). "Hm?"

"Hey, Pyrrha?" Jaune said. He was sifting through a row of breastplates now. "Uh...Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Anything," Pyrrha told him.

"You're really good at this whole fighting stuff, right?" said Jaune. "So I was wondering...Like, can you help me? I mean, I kind of barely know you (I've known you for two weeks) but I feel like we really connected and all and—"

"Yes!" Pyrrha exclaimed. She tried again. "...Yes."

Was Pyrrha going too fast? Areyn had to ask. Really, the lady either went too fast or too slow…

"I need help too," Areyn said. She stumbled out of the 'Beginners' section with a shield-sword combo thing strapped on her arm, she had forgotten to take it off. Areyn added drily, "Please send help."

Pyrrha stared at her.

"The more the merrier?" Jaune said.

Areyn suddenly felt like some sort of cockblocker. Oh gods, she needed to get advice from Yang (resident expert on all things relationship-related because everyone else on the team sucked at relationships) as soon as humanly possible. Why did she keep on doing this to herself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> I'm not sure who I feel sorry for at this point…


	8. Everything is a Bad Idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *TAKING A SMALL BREAK NEXT WEEK! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!* ~ Aros
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Did Areyn regret calling for help (and from Pyrrha of all people)?

Yes, yes she did.

A lot.

Jaune barreled into her, flattening both of them into pancakes against the wall. Jaune's aura flickered. "Ugh…"

Oh right,  _aura_. One of those things Areyn had  _almost none of._ Hell, it had become kind of an anomaly with just how little she had.

* * *

" _F-13," Professor Goodwitch said calmly—a contrast to how she slammed her scroll onto Ozpin's desk._

_Areyn stood a far distance away._

_She'd been dragged to the Headmaster's Office by Goodwitch after her aura was tested and yeah, she wasn't getting into this Remnant-shitz if she could. She'd learned her lesson._

" _Oh?" Ozpin said. He winced when the scroll hit the desk._

" _Did you know," Goodwitch said, "that the previously lowest scoring aura on Remnant was an F-107?"_

" _I never knew the exact number, no," Ozpin said, smiling nervously._

" _..." Goodwitch glared. She turned on Areyn. "You can leave, now. This conversation…"_

" _Is about to turn a bit ugly!" Ozpin filled in._

_Areyn didn't need to hear any more. She slammed her fist on the elevator button and hurried on an elevator._

" _...That wasn't necessary," Areyn heard Goodwitch say before the doors closed on her and the elevators descended at an honestly breathtaking and scary speed._

* * *

Areyn had not been keen to tell anyone her aura level or why exactly she sucked at using her aura so much after that incident a few weeks ago.

Most of the time, whenever someone bothered to ask at all, she blamed it on her semblance.

_I don't need aura, I can't die._

But damn, Areyn wanted it. Life hurt like a bitch.

"Is that all you two have?" Pyrrha asked, walking towards Jaune and Areyn from the other side of the training room. Unfortunately, Areyn had discovered the evil side of Pyrrha by getting her butt knocked by the fake-Spartan daily.

"Come on, pussies! You can do better!" Russell cheered.

He didn't exactly make Areyn feel motivated. The rest of Team JSBR had decided to wait for their leader and watch that day. They sat in the bleachers. Sky winced. Dove kicked Russell in the shin. Russell tackled him in retaliation. Sky went back to looking at his scroll—probably at a reflection of himself.

Areyn pushed Jaune off herself, an easy task since Jaune was already trying to get up. Areyn felt the trigger—

—she raised her arm and pulled.

The dust rocket sailed straight past Pyrrha and embedded in the wall and exploded.

No one even batted an eyelash.

Areyn grunted, annoyed and frustrated. She struggled to her feet—something she had really been working on lately. Especially when she had a giant shield/missile launcher/sword thing attached to her right arm.

"Ahhh!" with a questionable battle cry, Jaune launched forward, taking a giant swing at Pyrrha. Pyrrha dodged and tripped Jaune as he landed. The blond fell on his face.

"Oooh~!" Russell yelled unhelpfully.

Areyn groaned.

_This is stupid._

She waited for Pyrrha to come to her. Areyn ran at turtle pace with her shield on—and it was also super exhausting. Areyn would rather not waste her energy when she could just sit tight and get the same results.

Pyrrha made sure Jaune was okay first, a process that involved awkwardly nudging Jaune with her feet until he groaned.  _Then_ Pyrrha raced for Areyn.

It took the fake-Spartan a fraction of the average time to reach Areyn. Pyrrha thrust her spear.

_Clang!_

Areyn's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it, she had really blocked Pyrr—!

Pyrrha's foot made impact with Areyn's back. Areyn felt herself flip in the air and right before she crashed into the ground, Pyrrha grabbed her by her collar. Areyn exhaled, her breath flattening against the floor.

_I didn't sign up for this!_

The alarms ring, signaling the end of their session.

Pyrrha pulled Areyn back up. Areyn breathed again, shakily.

Janie's team jumped down from the bleachers and surrounded their leader.

"I feel like you're improving," Pyrrha told Areyn, pulling Areyn's attention back to her.

"...I don't feel it," Areyn said lamely. "It's been a month…"

"Progress and growth take time, Areyn," Pyrrha said. "It doesn't happen in an instant."

"A month isn't an instant," Areyn argued, "A month is a very long time."

"Hey, Areyn!" Russell said. "You joining us for Friday night game night?"

Areyn shrugged. "Sure. But—" she hefted her weapon "—lemme put this away first."

Areyn walked into the locker room alone. Pyrrha trained herself after working with Areyn and Jaune—and Jaune didn't need to put away Crocea Mors.

Areyn had a hard time stuffing her weapon into her locker. It was a large oval shield that curved into a blade. Located underneath the shield were mechanics for a missile launcher—and the handle, which acted as a grip and a trigger.

The  _idea_  was that a shield would protect Areyn from things like, say, spears and dangerous people that could kick her ass, but it clearly wasn't working.

Areyn slammed her locker shut.

* * *

Areyn button-smashed her way through  _Grimm Duty: Farlands_ , a game that switched between shooter and beat'em up at random. Also, it was a very bad pun.

Apparently, Sky had the game console ship to JSBR's dorm when he realized that he forgot it back at home (aka. a giant mansion). The guy might be filthy rich and had a serious ego problem—but he was okay, Areyn decided.

Dove sat beside Areyn. They were competing for most kills. Areyn was way okay with this. She liked video games. She was actually good at video games.

"Seventy-one…" Areyn said.

Dove groaned.

"First to a hundred!" Russell reminded them. "And I get to play winner, naturally." He hung off his bed, sometimes rage quitting whatever he was playing on his scroll and shouting about it— _loudly_. "FUUUUUUUUUCK!"

Jaune jumped, then he returned to furiously tapping his pencil on the floor. If Areyn remembered right, Jaune had a bunch of extra credit stuff he wanted to do.

The door creaked open.

"Tada." Sky walked into the dorm with a basket. He threw the basket on the floor and ran his hand through his hair. Sky sniffed. "You should be thanking me, I had to go through Team RWRN for these."

"RWRN again?" Russell's face scrunched. "What is it this time?"

"The orange haired one tried to steal our rightful foods," Sky declared, gesturing at the basket—a basket filled with 'rightful' loaves of bread and muffins. "Brutish, I swear."

"That's it? Why are you complaining about  _that?"_ Russell said. "Weiss Schnee almost skewered me in Training last week!"

"We know," Dove told him. "You told us—about a hundred times."

"Hey, they're not  _that_ bad," Jaune spoke up. "Ruby's really nice—and they just don't talk to anyone besides each other, y'know? I guess I get that."

"Schnee could've said 'sorry'," Russell said and tapped at his scroll. "She looked like she was angry at me.  _Me._ The person she almost stabbed!"

"...Well, Schnee is kind of like Sky," Areyn had to say—because she still had some sort of loyalty to RWBY the show's Weiss. But Areyn had to admit, Weiss was kind of a cold bitch in real-life. Yeah, she rubbed Areyn the wrong way more than she didn't. "Anti-social, rich, snooty…"

"I'm none of those things," Sky said, sitting in a chair imported from Mistral and sliding to his personal desk below a bunk bed, both of which were imported from Atlas.

"..." Sky got four pairs of eyes giving him skeptical looks. "My point still stands," he said, tossing his hair. "Team RWRN is simply—unlikeable."

* * *

Sky wasn't right, of course. How could Team RWRN be unlikeable? Ruby, Weiss, Ren, and Nora were all...amazing people...that Areyn hadn't spoken more than five sentences to, ever.

Areyn wandered around the dining hall—lost in her revelation. Luckily, it was a Saturday and not too many people were present to watch Areyn walk around like an idiot. Suddenly self-aware, Areyn stopped and scratched her head sheepishly.

But seriously, when  _was_ the last time Areyn saw Team RWRN? Had they been in class on Friday? Thursday? Did Yang talk to them during lunch break this week? Areyn couldn't remember. She vaguely recalled seeing them in Training when Goodwitch was testing auras that week but...

Areyn shook her head. She better get going. She had been standing around with a bagel in her hand way too long and the cafeteria lady was staring—and probably getting worried.

* * *

"Yang?" Areyn didn't expect Yang to be in the dorm this late. Usually, she was gone by nine on the weekends.

Yang was draped across her bed, her scroll on her face. "Mrrrrrgh…"

Areyn looked to Blake for an explanation. Ms. Closet Faunus pointedly ignored Yang, her face was flushed from...whatever she was reading (she had taken off the cover). Areyn had the feeling that she would regret asking.

"Earth to Yang?" Areyn said, keeping a safe distance away from the blonde.

Wait—

"Um...Remnant to Yang, I mean."

"Mrrrrgh…"

Areyn raised an eyebrow.

"She's just going through a phase," Blake finally said, coughing awkwardly. "She'll get over it."

"Mrrrrgh...Ruby doesn't need me anymore...she's all grown up now…" Yang threw her scroll on the floor and draped her arm over her face dramatically.

"Oh," was all Areyn could say. "Huh. Is this an early midlife crisis or something?"

"...She doesn't ask me for anything anymore...she doesn't visit...doesn't call...doesn't text...doesn't ask for her leather jacket back…"

Areyn awkwardly looked down at said leather jacket—she had taken a liking to it and she'd feel pretty heartbroken if Ruby asked for it back now.

Blake looked at Areyn like, 'see what I've been dealing with this morning?'.

"Um…" Areyn said, because she was technically leader and she was supposed to help her teammates or whatever. "Yang, Ruby lives, like, next door…"

"I know! And now she's leaving the house without me!"

"...Well, I wouldn't really call Beacon a house…" Areyn said.  _Yeah, wouldn't call it a mansion either...it's_ that  _big._

Yang furrowed her eyebrows. "No, it's a...what's the word? Meda—Mitro—Med—"

"Metaphorical?" Blake supplied.

"That's the one! Beacon is a  _metafloralical_ house!"

Blake facepalmed.

"Sue me, English isn't my forte…" Yang muttered.

"Did Pyrrha give you an inspirational talk?" Areyn asked. "Because you should ask Pyrrha for an inspirational talk. She's  _really_ good at it."

"Nah...I need to  _move_ if I want to find Pyrrha…"

"...You can call her," Areyn said, pointing at Yang's scroll—the one Yang threw on the floor.

"Nah…"

"She's a lost cause," Blake told Areyn. "Don't waste your time."

"Blake~ I think you've talked more about me this morning than you've talked  _to me_ this week~"

"That is categorically untrue," Blake said coolly. "I told you this morning—in a few hundred words—that Ruby is simply maturing and you should let her do so naturally."

"But she's only  _fifteen!"_

Blake raised her eyebrows at Areyn like 'see?'.

"Talk about helicopter sibling…" Areyn muttered.

"...What's a helicopter?" Yang asked.

"Nothing."

"Maybe you should take your mind off Ruby," Areyn suggested. "Do something...something you like doing?"

"I like spending time with my cute little sister…"

Blake's bow twitched ever-so-slightly, the only external sign that she was losing her patience.

"Yang, think," Areyn said, trying to sound encouraging—a bit of a challenge when Areyn usually spoke in a bored monotone. " _What do you do when Ruby_ isn't  _around?"_

Yang stopped groaning and thought about the question carefully. She even adopted a thinking pose—which she somehow made look kind of cool even though she was laying down on her bed.

"I...search for—uh...visit clubs! I search for clubs...to visit. That is totally what I meant to say." Yang nodded vigorously.

"On second thought," Areyn decided, "let's not—"

Too late. Successfully encouraged, Yang jumped off her bed and dusted off her shirt. "Change of plans, no more moping! Geez, that was pathetic, why did I do that? Anyway, you—" Yang pointed at Areyn "—and you—" Yang pointed at Blake "—are  _finally_ going to go socialize like I promised."

Blake looked up from her book. "...When did this promise happen?"

"A month ago." Areyn groaned. "On an elevator ride."

Blake glared.

Areyn defended herself. "It wasn't my idea. She forced her promise on me!" Areyn turned to Yang. "Also, it's like...one in the afternoon."

Yang flopped back onto her bed. "Never mind...more moping until nighttime…"

"What is this?" Areyn repeated. "Sister withdrawal?"

Blake shrugged. She flipped a page in her book and made a weird noise between surprised and interested.

"Mrrrgh…" Yang moaned.

"I'm going to go get Pyrrha," Areyn decided and scooted towards the door. "Maybe she'll know what to do."

_And she'll knock some common sense into Yang's brain and stop the club thing from happening._

* * *

"A club?" Pyrrha said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. She got a weird look in her eyes.

 _No, no, no, no, no,_ Areyn's brain told herself.

"Well—I suppose it would be a new experience. Not to mention that Huntsmen are supposed to be comfortable in every environment, so I don't necessarily see any downsides in scouting a club for  _purely educational purposes_ …" Pyrrha closed her locker on her weapons.

_That was the wrong answer!_

Areyn sighed. "Just say 'why not'."

Pyrrha smiled. "So why not?"

Areyn swore there was an evil glint in Pyrrha's eyes. She was convinced that this was some sort of karmic payback for slacking in Pyrrha's training sessions...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Mandatory time-skip...This is important, trust me. =)
> 
> Writing essays @ www.patreon/arosz


	9. In the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY

 

"Yang, we're not all going to fit on your motorcycle," Areyn said dully. She got a glimmer of hope that maybe this little set-back would stop Yang from dragging her (and of course, everyone else—but mostly her) to a club. A club that was probably the same club Yang blew up in RWBY the show and presumably blew up in RWBY the real-life too.

Yang placed a hand on her chin and scrutinized her motorcycle—Bumblebee, a cool yellow race motorcycle with orange flames painted on the side...and also a motorcycle that could hold a maximum of two people (two would be  _lucky_ ). "...Huh...You might be right."

Blake's eyebrow twitched. "She  _might be_?"

"Blake, you're even moodier than usual," Yang said cheerfully. "Lighten up!"

Pyrrha tilted her head. "I wasn't aware motorcycles were allowed on campus…"

"Oh, they're not. I smuggled Bumblebee in with an airship."

Pyrrha suddenly looked very concerned.

"Actually, it was  _this_ airship." Yang patted Shuttle 8's nuzzle. "I guess we'll just have to take a shuttle to the club…"

"No!" Pyrrha exclaimed. She cringed. "I meant—if Beacon were to track us…"

"So maybe we shouldn't go, after all?" Areyn suggested hopefully.

"Good point, Pyrrha—" Yang shrugged, ignoring Areyn's (very smart) comment. "—Guess we'll just have to walk."

"Walk…?" Areyn sagged dramatically. She was never the biggest fan of  _walking._

* * *

It was a bit anticlimactic, then, when Yang landed their shuttle on a dock only two blocks away from Junior's Club. Ah, yes, Yang had cheerfully confirmed that the club they were attending was, in fact, the Junior's Club's she'd quote on quote 'made a teensy bit of a mess of during Winter Break'. Areyn found this information less than thrilling (or  _too_  thrilling, depending on how she decided to look at it).

Well, at least...Yang looked like she was doing a lot better than she had been that morning. Areyn hadn't really shown or felt any concern for the blonde, but seeing her moan and bed-bound for most of the day had been a bit of a shock. Areyn had never seen Yang act anything like that—it felt almost  _bipolar._ It made Areyn wonder—what was really in that mind of Yang's?

Areyn walked a good distance behind Yang and Pyrrha. Yang had a hand slung across Pyrrha's shoulders and from what Areyn could tell, she was giving Pyrrha very bad club advice ('I'm telling you Pyrrha, you gotta use force to get what you want in there!'). Blake was only a few steps ahead of Areyn. She had her arms crossed defensively and glared at the ground. The closet-faunus practically radiated 'I  _do not_  want to be here and I feel like strangling someone'.

Areyn decided it would be wise to leave Blake alone—which, now that she thought about it, was what she usually did with Blake, anyway. How did Yang even get Blake to do anything? Pyrrha tried more than a few times to encourage Blake to 'interact with others' and it  _never_ worked—well, it  _did_ activate sulky Blake.

Junior's Club was in a run-down sector of the Industrial District and the blocks were practically deserted. The only people here were the shady kinds and the kids stupid enough to go to secret clubs—oh, wait. Areyn hated sticking out like a sore thumb, and you couldn't get more sore-thumb than a bunch of colorfully dressed Huntsmen trainees walking around a drabby, grey place. Though, to be fair, at least Pyrrha had traded out her shiny Spartan armor for a very suspicious looking long coat and even more suspicious looking shaded sunglasses...almost like a high-society kid trying her hardest to fit in based on what she'd seen on bad thriller SV-shows (which was almost certainly the case).

"He-llo~!" Before anyone had the chance to introduce common sense to Yang, she kicked down the  _steel doors_ to Junior's Club.

Pyrrha stared at Yang like she had never seen her before. Blake's eyebrow began twitching. Areyn felt the urge to slap her hand on her face—she settled on letting out a small  _yeep!_ when, suddenly, everyone in the club decided to aim pointy and/or barrel weapons at Yang and co. Co. unfortunately including Areyn, in this case.

"What are  _you_ doing here?" The crowd parted for a big guy that vaguely resembled a teddy bear, the menacing kind—not the cute kind. He pointed at Yang. "The  _last time_ you came, blondie, we were stuck doing repairs for—" The man looked around at broken pillars and ruined walls. "—actually, we're  _still_ doing repairs!"

"Yang…?" Pyrrha said, confused and looking for an explanation she wasn't going to get.

"Welp, have fun, guys~!" Yang grabbed the teddy bear guy by the ear and dragged him towards the bar. "Junior here still owes me a drink!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey—!" Junior repeated. The crowd quickly dispersed after him. The people who hadn't joined in returned to their activities and discussions.

Areyn looked over at Blake. Blake's eyebrow had not stopped twitching.

"Well…" Areyn said, sliding up to Blake. "It looks like our guide just ditched us. What are the chances we'll ditch the club?"

Blake did not respond. She turned around and walked towards the door.

"100%? I can do that." Areyn followed. Somehow,  _Areyn_ was a talkative person around Blake. Maybe it had something to do with making up for the  _awkward empty silence_ that inevitably happened when two introverted awkward humanity-hating people were left together for more than three seconds.

Then Areyn's scroll rang. She picked up.

" _I can see you guys. Don't even think about ditching,"_ said Yang's voice-mail.

Blake glared at her own scroll. She had gotten the same message.

 _Scary,_ Areyn thought.  _This is the power of a veteran helicopter sister. How does Ruby deal with this on a daily basis?_

"Don't worry," Pyrrha said. "I'm sure we can...think...of...something…" Pyrrha did not seem all that confident that they actually could. Actually, she looked a bit rattled.

Blake glowered, looking at the doorway with some serious reverence.

Areyn gave Junior's Club a desperate one-over. There was the long bar, the DJ stand, the gambling corner, the big dance floor, the columns, the red and white cherry blossom trees, the flowing red capes—wait, what?

Areyn thought she caught a glimpse of a little girl in black and red—and then white hair, orange hair, and green velvet. Then the vision was cut-off by bodies moving across the dance floor.

Meh. Who was Areyn to judge what other teams did in their free time? Better not tell Yang though—she might freak and destroy the club all over again.

"Maybe…" Areyn said, turning to Blake and Pyrrha. Once she got their attention, she simply pointed to the gambling corner.

What could she say? Areyn was in desperate need of cash, anyway.

* * *

Poker was a game Areyn was quite fond of. In the real world, that was to say, Earth, it was one of those games that she downloaded on her phone and played religiously so she could pretend to have human interaction.

Okay, so maybe Areyn's fondness of poker came from a really sad place.  _But_  it didn't make enjoyment of the game any less real.

Well. She enjoyed the game when she  _wasn't_ down to only 20.00 li. to bet. Areyn wondered if maybe she shouldn't have decided to go all in and use all her money.

The dealer dealt their hole cards.

Areyn took hers. An Eight of Hearts and a Six of Spades. Meh. She looked up at her competitors.

Pyrrha was struggling. The fake-Spartan was god-awful at making any type of poker-face, which made sense, because it was her first time playing. But even for a first-timer, it was  _bad._ Areyn watched her grin.  _Get a grip on it, Pyrrha!_ she thought.

Blake was the opposite. Areyn hadn't even seen her facial muscles so much as twitch since the games started. But then again, that was almost Blake's default way of emoting anyway. So far, Blake had made the most earnings.

Then there were the henchmen, Rubin and Leo, who had decided to join on a whim. They knew what they were doing—and they were decent enough to give Areyn, Blake, and Pyrrha a friendly match.

Blake slid a 5.00 li. poker chip onto the table. She had the small blind this game.

Areyn dispassionately slid over a 10.00 li. poker chip. She wondered if she could talk Blake into giving her money back, once this was done.

Pyrrha slid a 10.00 li. poker chip. Rubin and Leo did the same. Blake replaced her 5.00 li. with a 10.00 li.

The dealer collected their chips and dealt the first set of community cards: Ace of Hearts, Eight of Diamonds, Jack of Hearts.

Ugh. One pair didn't seem very promising at all.

Blake put down a 2.00 li. poker chip. Nobody raised and nobody folded.

The dealer collected their chips again and dealt another community card: Eight of Spades.

Oh? Areyn hoped nobody caught her eye-raising. Maybe she had a chance after all… (she knew she was being reckless and  _hopeful_ , but what could she do? she needed the cash desperately.)

Leo and Blake folded that round. Pyrrha put down a 2.00 li. chip and Rubin raised it by 5.00 li.

The final community card was dealt: Six of Hearts.

Pyrrha put down a 5.00 li. chip. Rubin raised by 10.00 li.

 _Oh no._ If Areyn lost her hand, she'd be in debt. That would be  _very bad._ But if she won… Areyn suddenly felt a little giddy. Sure, it wouldn't be much, but it'd be  _something._ And she felt like winning. She needed to win something. Ever since she came here (to Remnant, not the Club) she'd been losing. Badly.

Areyn revealed her cards. "...Full House."

"Um…" Pyrrha said, looking at the dealer. "Is this—sorry I forgot the name—better than a Full House?"

She had a Flush.

"No," the dealer said plainly.

Pyrrha looked positively crushed and Areyn kind of felt bad. Kind of. She still needed the money and the rush and Pyrrha was rich.

Rubin also had a Flush. "You've got good luck, kid."

Areyn wanted to laugh at that. But then she wondered if she wanted to laugh because the henchman was dead wrong or if she wanted to laugh because the henchman was  _too right._

But Areyn collected the winnings mutely (136.00 li., she counted)—no words said.

"Oh shit," Leo suddenly said.

Rubin elbowed him. "There are ki—oh, you're right." He looked behind Areyn.

Areyn turned around.  _Oh shit._

Short, pink and brown, and umbrella were the best ways to describe Neopolitan.

Neopolitan— _Neo—_ who was strolling towards their table.

 _What the hell is she doing here one Volume early?!_ Areyn thought.  _This is stupid!_

"Lemme guess," Leo deadpanned. "Torchwick sent you for some quick cash again?"

Neo shrugged and slid into a seat.

"You're certainly welcomed to join, uh…" Pyrrha waited for Neo to say her name.

"She's mute," Areyn blurted—still shell-shocked and in her mind, complaining about how unfair the world was (she  _did not_ asked to be in the same poker game as a mute killing machine!).

Neo nodded and sent Areyn a glare. Areyn gulped.

"Oh, uh…my apologies," Pyrrha laughed nervously.

"Prepare to be ruined," muttered Leo.

Rubin elbowed him again and whispered, " _C'mon..._ if we can beat  _her_ …"

They were...as Leo had so aptly put it,  _ruined._ Three games later, Areyn had burned through most of her winning money and she had  _folded_  two of those games.

Neo was a bluffing and raising monster. She didn't just keep on a blank face like Blake did—she actively put on false emotions to manipulate other players.

To put it bluntly, she was the  _worst._

Then she had suddenly gone and left, leaving a bunch of traumatized poker players in her wake.

 _What a cameo,_ Areyn thought, resisting the urge to slam her face into the table.

"I believe we're done," said Blake—she had developed a tick in her eyebrow again (apparently, she wasn't a big fan of losing). Blake counted her earnings and left the table.

Areyn had managed to come out mostly unscathed against Neo by folding  _as soon as humanly possible_ and as such, had gained a total of...2.00 li. for her troubles, which boosted her 87.32 li. to 89.32 li.

Well...at least she didn't  _lose_ any money. Not technically...though if one were to count her winning money as her money, she had lost around 70.00 li. to Neo and around 70.00 li. to Blake, Rubin, and Leo.

The same fortune could not be said for Pyrrha—who'd been stripped dry by practically everyone, and especially Neo.

"How much did she take from you?" Areyn asked, genuinely curious.

"Hm...certainly more than a few hundred," Pyrrha said, laughing nervously.

"That not good."

"I'll manage," Pyrrha said. She frowned. "Though my parents will certainly...ah,  _disapprove._ "

"...Huh." Areyn followed Pyrrha into the crowd.

"Hm...It felt—it felt good, though."

"What?" Areyn asked.

Pyrrha said quietly, "Losing.  _Truly_ loosing. And no one judging or looking…"

"Uh...I'm glad you're...happy to lose?" Areyn said awkwardly.

"Sometimes," Pyrrha continued—she was on a roll, apparently, "I wish...I wish I didn't have the spotlight I have. I  _am_ grateful for it, of course, but it can often feel like a burden I didn't ask for. It's suffocating."

"...Sounds like you've been thinking about it a lot," Areyn observed quietly.  _...Some burden, huh?_ "If it's a burden you didn't ask for, Pyrrha—it's totally your right to ditch it." ... _Am I convincing myself or her?_

Pyrrha looked at her then. "I—"

"No!"

"Blake?" Pyrrha turned.

Areyn strained her hearing.  _What was—_

Blake raced pass them, followed by—a man wearing a white mask, a white  _Grimm mask._

"Ah, come on! We were talking!" Roman Torchwick threw his hands in the air. "The messenger can't just up and leave!"

"That was—the White Fang?" Pyrrha looked at Areyn. "I'm not—a symbol of the White Fang is the Grimm Mask. But why—Blake—"

"Oh, that's definitely the White Fang," Areyn said flatly. She sucked in a breath. "Yuuuuuup."

_My conscience is not ready for this._

"But—Blake—" Pyrrha looked between Areyn and the door Blake had ran out of. Her fingers twitched from indecision.

"Did I ever mention that Blake's a faunus?" Areyn asked breezily. "Because, y'know...I always thought it was kind of obvious, with the bow and—"

She was definitely not in her right mind at that moment—but she carried on. What was that saying? The one that got meme'd to death? ' _Keep Calm and Carry On'?_  Hey, Areyn was carrying on (way more than she had any right doing)...now the other thing…

" _What?"_ Pyrrha said sharply. She shook her head and grabbed Areyn's arm. "Whatever the case, we need to take action  _now._ "

"Uh...What? I don't—" Areyn managed. Then she was being dragged through the club like a rag doll.

"Yang!" Pyrrha ordered.

"Heh. Already on it!" Yang didn't bother weaving and dodging past the gawking crowd like Pyrrha did—she barreled through them, blasting Ember Celica whenever she felt like it would help.

 _Leave your weapons at the door, lady!_ Areyn thought erratically. She promptly forgot that thought when she and Pyrrha burst through the doorway.

Blake—was locked in combat with the White Fang messenger.

Blake—the silent, brooding bookworm—confronting a terrorist.

"You're a disgrace to the White Fang and faunus kind," the messenger growled. " _Traitor._ Ada—"

"Shut. Up!" Blake gritted her teeth and— _ran._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Ah, it's good to be back. Happy New Year's, guys! Here, have an action scene and a cliffhanger…
> 
> Posted some New Year's Resolutions on P atreon! (a few of which concern Shattered Feelings): www.p atreon / arosz


	10. In the Dark Pt. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Volume I - Chapter XI: In the Dark Pt. II
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Yang punched the White Fang terrorist (rights activist gone wrong, whatever) in the face for all the troubles he caused them.

"What's your deal, man?!" Yang shouted at the guy, her hands on his collar.

Pyrrha looked at the building Blake had disappeared over. She said tentatively, "Yang…?"

"What? Do you guys just attack random people to make a point now?!" Yang demanded, ignoring Pyrrha. "Look, I've got nothing against the Faunus but I do with the White Fang, especially now!"

So yeah, Areyn was feeling pretty awkward at the moment. It had been a good few minutes since Blake had somehow  _acrobat_ her way across a  _damn building—_ and it had been enough time for Yang to pummel the White Fang dude and for Pyrrha to investigate the building.

Areyn paced beneath 'Blake's building'. She pretended to investigate the ground for clues to where Blake had disappeared to, not that she expected to find anything when Pyrrha couldn't. 'No signs,' Pyrrha had said, 'nothing'.

Pyrrha breathed out chilly air. "What do we do now? Blake has gone... _absent._ We have a member of the White Fang—do we hand him in?—and we can't risk calling the authorities because we're  _breaking the laws anyway_ just by being here! Also, it's after curfew." She added quietly to herself, " _What were you thinking, Pyrrha_?"

Great, now Pyrrha was hyperventilating and talking to herself in third-person. There went Areyn's  _most reliable person_ and  _proxy leader._

Areyn walked over to Yang.

"Random person?! That's the daughter of the  _last leader of the White Fang_ you've got there— _and a traitor to all of faunus-kind_. I wouldn't call her a  _random person,_ " the messenger spat. "Get your hands off me, human!"

Closer up, Areyn could see the scales lining the messenger's face—or the visible parts, anyway. It was kind of...disturbing.

" _What?!_ " Yang said incredulously. "Stop lying through your—wow, really sharp—teeth, man!"

"...He's telling the truth," Areyn said. "And those  _are_ sharp teeth, wow."

Scary, more like.

"But…" Yang trailed off. "It doesn't make sense. Blake—"

"Ghira Belladonna was the last leader of the White Fang, before Sienna Khan," Pyrrha supplied. "Blake's last name is  _Nightshade._ "

Yang frowned. "But Blake—"

"It's Blake Belladonna, actually," Areyn said thoughtfully. "I mean—what type of idiot applies to a school  _knowing_ that their name is registered as associated with a terrorist organization?"

Well, canon-Blake, apparently, but canon-Blake wasn't the Blake Areyn got so that little fact was irrelevant.

"What I  _meant_ to say is that Blake isn't a faunus," Yang said, not sounding too happy about being cut off  _twice._ "That's a big problem, isn't it?"

Pyrrha frowned. "Ah, Areyn told me—well, she told me that Blake was a faunus. But, that came from left-field and with no proof…"

Areyn felt the attention shift to her, which was definitely  _not a good thing._ "What?" She thought fast. "I mean—why are we standing around  _talking about_ Blake when we could be  _searching for_ Blake? This...uh, this sounds like a  _fundamental misstep in priorities_  if you ask me."

 _Wow, big words there,_ Areyn thought.  _Go me!_

Yang looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "Did you seriously just try to pull the 'divert attention to other things' move on  _me?_ Areyn, I have a hyperactive, trouble-making,and weapons-obsessed prodigy for a little sister— _I know these things._ " Yang paused. "But you're right."

Yang dropped the White Fang messenger like a sack ton of bricks. "Look after him for me. Thanks."

Areyn pointed at herself. "Me—?"

Yang was already racing down the street on Bumblebee. How did she even get on her motorcycle so fast?

"I'll run around the back," Pyrrha said, freshly motivated.

She looked at Areyn, then at the messenger. Apparently thinking that Areyn couldn't handle some random grunt with almost no fighting experience (which, to be fair, Areyn couldn't), Pyrrha raised her hand. Makeshift handcuffs—really just cobbled together pieces of metal—attached themselves to the messenger and magnetized to a warehouse. The messenger tugged and pulled to no avail.

Pyrrha ran off.

"Well," Areyn said. "All I have to do is sit here and wait? Great. This is actually  _really great._ Totally. Fabulous. Super" The night sky did not bother to respond to her, to no one's surprise.

"Do you always talk this much?" asked the messenger, glaring at her and pulling at his 'handcuffs'.

"..." Areyn squatted to the messenger's level, though she made sure to keep her distance. "Actually, I don't like talking much. I find people pretty objectionable. Now, talking to  _myself_ on the other hand…"

"Or  _about_ yourself, huh?" the messenger said.

"Well, I  _do_ have a bit of an ego," Areyn admitted. "But then, it's totally been getting crushed into a tiny little ball, little by little, at the moment so like...It doesn't count?"

The messenger did not look impressed.

Areyn tried a different approach. "Look—uh…"

"I'm not giving you my name. I'm not stupid, Huntress."

" _In-training,_ actually.  _Involuntary_ training. Don't call me that, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth." Areyn sighed. "Fine, I'll just call you 'M&M'. M&M, what's the big deal?"

"Big deal?" M&M had stopped struggling. Maybe he'd given up. Or maybe, just maybe, Areyn might be good at this negotiations stuff.

"I don't get it. Joining an insane  _cult_ and going around murdering people…"

"Why does everyone assume we  _murder people?"_ M&M groused. "That just makes us as bad as  _you._ "

"...I've never murdered anyone before." Heck, the most violent thing Areyn had ever committed herself to was  _gaming._ "Hey, isn't it a bit questionable to put humanity as a whole inside the same box?"

M&M ignored her (very reasonable) point. "Sometimes,  _sometimes,_ we do what we need to do to  _make a change_ but  _that's it._ We take down a few warehouses, destroy a few Atlesian Knights—"

"—steal a few crates' worth of dust, team up with a few unsavory humans, etc. etc. I know," Areyn said breezily.  _Wait_ —

The messenger— _M &M_—burst out of his handcuffs.

Areyn really had to talk to Pyrrha about the durability of the metal she chose, because clearly, it wasn't very effective! Areyn stumbled back.

A dagger appeared in M&M's hand. "I'm  _so_ sorry about this."

Areyn fell on her butt. "Really?  _Really?_ "

"Look, you're really not supposed to know some of the things you just said—and the White Fang recently had a  _change of authority,_ in Vale anyway, and we're all still adjusting." The worst part was, M&M  _did_ look sorry and genuinely upset. "This new guy, yeah? He isn't a big fan of the pacifist route."

"Man, what a shame. He's probably planning a coup too…" Areyn really hated her mouth sometimes.

"Stay still and this will be  _fine,_ probably—I mean, I don't plan to ki—"

Too late—M&M thrust the dagger into Areyn's chest. Well, Areyn  _assumed_ he was aiming for the chest. It landed somewhere in her stomach instead, because Areyn just couldn't resist trying to scoot away.

Areyn  _totally didn't_ (she totally did) scream. She managed to muffle it down a bit with her hand though—the last thing she needed was to  _want_ to die because of  _embarrassment._

M&M stumbled backward. His back hit the building. "Oh gods, I didn't—I  _did._ I should run—why am I not  _running?_ "

Areyn felt her Semblance activating.

It had been a while since it'd been launched in  _full-scale_ —and it wasn't a sensation Areyn missed.

Because before the damn thing started healing her, it  _broke her._ The pain after everything— _the pain during the recovery phase_ —was the worst.

Her stomach burst into smoke and rolled back into her body. It would reform itself  _again and again_ until Areyn was 'better'.

A dark shadow landed behind M&M. It knocked him unconscious with the rounded hilt of— _something._

"Oh. Hey, Blake," Areyn said queasily. Her vision was getting spotty and she felt lightheaded, like she was walking on clouds in  _fucking space._ "Hey, which parts did you hear with those ears of yours? Because I might need you to forget some of them.

"Also," Areyn added, because it was  _very important_ to the conversation, "Has Remnant done space yet? Is that—Is that something Earth can actually win at?" She giggled randomly.

Blake stared blankly. Areyn stared right back—

—Well, until she passed out. It was a little hard to stare at Blake after that.

* * *

"...Areyn? Areyn." Areyn felt someone shake her.

Areyn drapes her hand over her face. "Shaddup, I hate bad dreams…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Wait!" Areyn flopped over—her stomach still hurt like hell—and called out to Blake. "You— ...You are  _not_ leaving after I went through all of this shit."

Blake turned around. "Areyn—"

"No. Shut up. Literally everyone on the team knows about your  _little secret_ now—which, by the way, no one cares about—and they know about your  _last name_. The only thing you've got to hide is—well, actually,  _that's a pretty big deal…_ " Areyn paused. She tried to sit up and ended up falling on her back. "But you owe me for getting me stabbed.  _That's_ important."

"...You were  _stabbed?_ "

"Yeah, by that White Fang guy—I thought you were there."

"No—I was…" Blake looked away. "Sorry."

Areyn raised an eyebrow. But that shadow, it was Blake—wasn't it?

"Whatever." Areyn couldn't be bothered to use her brain at the moment.

"They...know?"

"Yeah, well, M&M wasn't the quiet type."

Areyn touched her stomach and flinched. She was going to have to tell Pyrrha to cancel their lesson plans for a good, oh...week or so. (Wait—that was it? Areyn wondered if she was becoming a little  _too_ used to pain. Was she turning into a masochist? She hoped not.)

"Oh," Blake managed. She stood there awkwardly, the sun rising behind her.

Areyn groaned. The sun was rising? How many hours did she spend knocked out? More importantly,  _how many people saw her?_

So. Embarrassing.

There was a revving engine coming towards them. The engine came to an abrupt stop. "Hey, Areyn, we— _Blake?!_ "

Yang didn't bother parking her motorcycle—leaving Pyrrha to do the work. The blond stormed up to Blake. She pointed at Blake's chest and  _glared._ " _You!"_

Blake had the decency to flinch.

"Yang, how do you—how do you  _park this_?" Pyrrha struggled to keep Bumblebee upright. "And please, go easy on Blake. I'm sure she's had a  _traumatizing experience_ last night, we need to treat her carefully. Not to mention, well, the  _accusations_ and such…"

"I thought you went somewhere else…" Areyn said. She was pretty sure Pyrrha had gone separate ways from Yang.

"We found each other. There's only so much of the Industrial District you can search, after all."

"Yang—" Blake started.

"Don't 'Yang' me! I'm  _tired_ and  _exhausted_ and  _hungry_ and  _sleep-deprived_ and  _exhausted_ and you—"

"You said  _exhausted_  twice and  _tired_  is a synonym to exhausted anyway…" Blake couldn't help muttering. She shivered and hugged herself, head held low.

"I was  _worried,_ you idiot!" Yang raised her hand.

Blake flinched,  _really_ flinched this time.

Yang paused, hand hovering above Blake's shoulder. "Uh...You okay there?"

"Yang, you know Blake doesn't do  _physical contact,_ " Areyn said drily. "It's an introvert thing."

"Huh. I'll never understand any of you." Yang brought her hand to her waist. She cocked an eyebrow. "So. What the  _hell_ were you thinking?"

"I…" Blake stared at Yang blankly.

" _I_ think you were scared," Areyn said. She smirked. "Look, I get it. When you're on top of the world, you're most scared of  _falling—_ and you were, weren't you? I mean—I bet it was the first time no one around you knew about  _you being a faunus._ "

"Areyn, not now," Pyrrha said quietly.

"Sorry, I got carried away." Areyn really hadn't meant for the words to slip out of her mouth. Oh, what a traitorous mouth she had…

" _That's_ what you were worried about?" Yang asked Blake incredulously. "Come on, who's even a racist anymore?" She rubbed her chin. "I mean,  _besides_  Marron Jhacks and Sulfur Walter and—and  _Weiss_ and—you know what, I'm going to stop there."

"It's worse in Mistral. Common, really," Pyrrha said unhappily. "Completely backwards—in my opinion."

"You guys are really not helping," Areyn told Yang and Pyrrha flatly.

Yang examined Blake—she stepped into Blake's private space. "I  _still_ don't see any faunus features, y'know."

"...under the bow," Blake muttered.

"What was that?"

"It doesn't matter." Blake walked away from Yang. "I—I appreciate that you don't care, I  _do,_ but it's not... _I'm_ not going to…"

"It's your right to privacy," Pyrrha reassured Blake. "We can be adult about this. Yang,  _Areyn?"_

"Yeah, yeah." Yang waved off Pyrrha's concern.

Areyn nodded mutely.

"I do have to ask though, Blake—You don't have to answer," Pyrrha said. "I know  _why_ you'd choose to hide your faunus traits—but I don't see  _why not._ In fact, more faunus visible in the effort to defend Remnant against Grimm would do wonders for public opinion…"

Blake turned on Pyrrha. "I've  _tried,_ Pyrrha. I tried to make things better. It didn't work." Blake's voice cracked. " _Nothing works._ "

And really, what could someone say to something like  _that?_

Yang decided that  _avoiding that_ altogether was the best way to respond. She shot a finger-gun at Blake. "Well, don't worry, Blake. We got you back. We've got your back. (That was a great line.) And we're gonna be in everything together."

"Hn…" Blake peered at Yang—scrutinizing her.

" _And_ we can start by figuring out what the White Fang are doing sending guys to talk to the biggest crime lord in town."

Blake turned pale. "...Tha—That's none of our business."

"I  _wholeheartedly_ agree with Blake," Areyn said eagerly. "That's a big no-no."

"We can always report to the authorities," Pyrrha suggested reasonably.

"No," Yang said.

"...No." Blake glowered.

"Meh." Areyn shrugged.

"Yes, perhaps Team ABYN can report  _themselves_ to the authorities."

Areyn nearly got startled shitless by the air shuttle that was  _silently landing on the ground._ She groaned when she saw who it was. They were doomed.

"Glynda?" Yang asked, dumbfounded.

"That's  _Professor Goodwitch_ to you, Ms. Xiao-Long." Professor Goodwitch didn't walk off the shuttle. She stood rooted there, hands behind her back. "I do hope all of you are ready for  _kitchen duty_ and  _at least_  a week long's worth of detention."

Pyrrha's mouth dropped open. She started sputtering—sure signs of another hyperventilating session.

"Great," Areyn groused. She wobbled to her feet—and puked blood. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She tried not looking at the weird black tar mixed into the blood.

Pyrrha gave her that  _concerned look._

"I'm fine,  _really_ ," Areyn said. She walked around in a little circle. "See? Perfectly fine." It hurt like a bitch.

Glynda only narrowed her eyes.

Yang looked at them—Blake in particular and tried for a grin. "Hey, I guess I  _did_ say we're in everything together…"

Blake crossed her arms, an unimpressed eyebrow raised—but a smile threatened to form on her face.

"Score one for Yang," Yang said. She winked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> I was reading Transformers: More Than Meets the Eyes while writing this (amazing comic, stunning plot and characters)—and it rubbed off on me. The chapter is way more character-interaction heavy than I first planned and the dialogue has taken priority (like it would in a comic). Fascinating.
> 
> Writing Patreon: www.patreon.com/arosz
> 
> See you guys next chapter. ~ Aros


	11. Operation: Investigation!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

 

Things go back to normal way too fast, Areyn thought one day. She glanced away from her scroll—Pyrrha was trying to study, Yang was trying to bother Blake, Blake was trying to ignore Yang, and Areyn...Areyn went back to exploring the news.

* * *

EVEN OUR VERY OWN VALE HUNTSMEN CAN'T SEEM TO FIND DUST THIEVES

PREPARE FOR THE VYTAL FESTIVAL: WHAT DO YOU NEED THIS YEAR?

LADY ASSAULTS SECURITY OFFICERS OUTSIDE OF CASTMART

INSIDER SOURCE: THE WHITE FANG HIERARCHY DEALS WITH SHAKE-UP

TEAM OF HUNTSMEN SPOTTED INVESTIGATING ABANDONED WAREHOUSES

...

* * *

Things go back to normal way too fast, Areyn thought. Even the news.

But that wasn't exactly the truth, was it? Some things  _change_ too. Like how Pyrrha studied ten times as hard as she used to (very  _very_ hard) ever since they got out of detention and how Blake sometimes, occasionally,  _very rarely_ acknowledged the existence of the people around her now. Areyn thought she heard Blake say 'hello' to Jaune the other day, which was definitely a new development. A new, great development. They were making progress.

Areyn was bored.

Maybe it had something to do with spending a week of detentions with Professor Goodwitch. Maybe she had developed a pathological fear of sitting still because of that particular utterly brain-numbing experience. Maybe she didn't want to hear the blonde  _torturer's_ monotone, droning voice in her head ever again.

Areyn left her relatively quiet room. She didn't say anything, she just—left. That was the silent agreement in Team ABYN. Anyone can leave anytime, no questions asked.

This case was unanimously decided after 'The Incident', when Blake made it very clear that sometimes, occasionally, she might drop out for a breather and  _no Yang,_ she definitely wasn't running out on them when it happened.

It didn't make Yang any less suspicious though, Areyn mused. And she was getting even worse what with RWRN constantly off-campus.

Areyn slowed her pace. She caught Ren filling up a canister at the water fountain. She was interested in—well, not in what Ren was doing at that moment, but what Ren  _wasn't_ doing at that moment. When a Team left campus so often—especially a first-year Team—rumors got around. The current, most plausible theory, came from Moon Light of Team MMNN. She suggested that RWRN had been initiated into a special course—of sorts—and they were already being assigned field missions.

The rest of the First Years hadn't taken too kindly to hearing  _that._

So maybe Areyn slowed and took a peek at Ren because she wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery—even though she knew that looking at someone accomplished nothing but making her look really, really stupid. The human psyche was such a pain in the arse.

* * *

"I think they're secret agents of the underworld," said Russell when Areyn asked. He was sitting the wrong way on his chair. "And when they catch us at our weakest point—bam!—they're gonna blow a sneak attack!"

"That is the stupidest thing I've heard all day," Sky said, blowing his nails and then examining them. "And I  _live_  with you."

"Jerk."

"Scum."

"This is every day," Jaune whispered in Areyn's ear. "You, uh...you get used to it."

Dove popped a chip into his mouth and chewed.

"Huh." Sometimes Areyn wondered if ABYN was missing out on team dynamics or if they were lucky. At least it was never quiet, with Team JSBR.

"But honestly? I don't know," Jaune said, walking away from the door. "I don't know what to think about RWRN. Are we supposed to have an opinion? No one knows them—well, besides themselves."

"Ruby is Yang's sister," Areyn flat-out said. She found a clean corner in the room—a damn miracle, she might add—and made herself comfortable.

Dove raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" Russell said, leaning forward. His chair wobbled on its front legs. "Really? Really? They look nothing alike."

"Hm…" Sky made a face. Being the high-born he was, Sky was probably getting ideas.

"Forget I said that," Areyn said. She'd forgotten that Ruby and Yang's relationship wasn't common knowledge (yet, ever?).

Russell shrugged. "I like the orange-haired girl. She's insane."

"She disturbs the class more often than not," Sky said.

"Exactly! That's what's great about her!" Russell told Sky.

"Hooligan."

"Snob."

"...I think Moon's right." Dove left his opinion at that.

"Maybe we'll get to see more of them during the Vytal Festival," Jaune told Areyn. He found a whetstone on his desk and began sharpening Crocea Mors—it was weird. "I mean, that's coming up soon, right?"

Areyn glowered. "Don't remind me. Everyone. Keeps. On. Talking. About. It."

What could she say? Areyn wasn't a fan of getting her butt handed to her on national television.

"I'm excited," Russell's hand shot up in the air. "I'm  _pumped."_

You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what I knew, Areyn thought.  _I_ wouldn't be excited  _even if_ I didn't know what I know.

Sky scoffed and tossed his hair. "Please, the Vytal Festival isn't just a muscles game—it's a time of negotiations, deals,  _alignments—_ "

"...So rich people politics?" Dove surmised, brandishing a potato chip.

"...If you must call it that." Sky said haughtily.

"I want to meet new people." Jaunee's eyes sparkled. "The best of the best from the other three Kingdoms are coming  _here._ Imagine meeting Team IRIS—"

"Team SSSN," Russell added.

"...Team SHDW," Dove said.

"Uh, Team SHDW is a Beacon Team," Russell told Dove.

"Yeah, well, have you  _seen_ them?" Dove muttered. "They  _have to_ show up for the tournament."

Russell shrugged. "I guess." He shot a paper airplane at Areyn. It hit her square on the head.

Areyn let the origami (if you could call it that) fall into her hands. "What was that for?"

"I don't get it."

'It' was a piece of math homework. "Dammit, Russell. Figure it out yourself."

"Ah, but I'll get you muffins…" Russell waved his finger.

"...Deal."

* * *

So Areyn found herself walking back to her room a few hours later, a muffin in hand and cursing Russell.

Sometimes, Areyn wondered where Cardin was. Most of the time, she was just glad Cardin had apparently failed the Initiation.

There was no surprise, really. The Initiation was two parts luck and only one part skill—Areyn was living proof of that herself. If... _If_ she hadn't happened upon Pyrrha that day, well, there were far worse fates than being forced into Beacon Academy, unfortunately.

Areyn wondered then if she could starve to death.

She decided she'd rather not find out.

Areyn stopped at her door. She raised her hand to knock—the door swung open before her first hits wood and Areyn is pulled in by a hand.

"Pyrrha's gone," was the first thing Yang told her.

"Uh...What?" Areyn asked. She pulled free of Yang's grasp—well, Yang let her go. Areyn didn't think she could ever free herself from Yang if Yang didn't want her to.

"You know how she's been," Yang said, pulling back. "Ever since 'The Incident'—"

"Are we seriously calling it 'The Incident'?" Areyn asked. Her eyes flicked to Blake, leaning on the wall. Blake didn't look excited for whatever Yang had cooked up for them—but then, she never looked excited.

"Well, what else do we call it?" Yang asked Areyn.

Areyn had no answer to that.

"Look, ever since 'The Incident', Pyrrha's been twitchy—"

"I don't think that's the word—"

"The point is, she'd totally give this, *ahem*  _operation_ a 'no'."

Areyn raised an eyebrow. "And Blake didn't?"

"I could do worse," Blake said quietly, nonchalant. She paused. "Also, Yang forced me."

"Ah." Areyn focused on Yang. "So what are we doing again? I think I missed that part."

Yang rubbed her hands together. She grinned. "I call it Operation: Investigation—y'know, to make it sound official." Yang stopped for a moment, for what Areyn could only assume was dramatic effect. "We're gonna spy on my little sister."

There's a pause. A moment of silence. Crickets chirped in the background—new arrivals that came with the springtime.

"We're going to  _stalk_  Ruby," Areyn finally said, deadpan and straight-faced.

"What?" Yang feigned ignorance. She put her hand on her chest. "I never said  _that._ "

Areyn turned to Blake, incredulous. Blake could only shrug meekly.

"Um...Yang," Areyn started, "Stalking—"

" _Spying_."

"—someone is harder with  _three_  people than it is with  _one._ "

Yang's eyes glinted dangerously—almost like a predator. It was scary. "Only if we're all in one place."

"Do I get a choice?" Areyn wondered.

"Nope!"

* * *

Never mistaken Yang for an idiot, Areyn learned the hard way, stalking—sorry,  _spying on—_ Ren.

You're forgettable, Yang had said. Like, your hair is a  _really bland_ color.

Funny, dull red was  _really bland_ on Remnant. Apparently.

And it's hard—really hard—to sense your aura, Yang had added. Blake had nodded in agreement.

That made more sense.

Areyn tried to look inconspicuous. She whistled. She got water. She wandered into JSBR's room and ran straight out. She pretended to forget something in her room. Etc.

This is stupid, she thought, watching Ren pick off pieces of a loaf of bread and putting them in his mouth, one at a time. It was also really dull.

Areyn dodged Ren's peripheral vision by scampering into another corridor. She followed him with her eyes—and then she realized he was going straight for Team RWRN's dorm.

_Areyn (08:41 p.m): Blake, he's coming your way._

…

_Blake (08:42 p.m): copy_

_Yang (08:42 p.m): dont forget to record!_

_Areyn (08:43 p.m): why tf do you need a recording?_

_Yang (08:43 p.m): to study_

_Areyn (08:44 p.m): okayyyyyyy…_

_Areyn (08:44 p.m): Wait, why don't we just video call?_

_Areyn (08:46 p.m): Yang? Blake?_

_..._

* * *

Blake closed her scroll and shut off the ringer.

She had been hoping Yang's newest shenanigan would give her a chance to relax. That was the only she'd decided to agree to it in the first place.

Yang had told her that she needed someone who could get into RWRN's dorm—someone who could scale a tree and stay there, someone who was  _quiet._ Blake ticked all the boxes.

So she'd sat in a tree—and she found herself with a lot of free time and  _peace and quiet_ in her hands. She must be going insane, Blake thought, or did she really find herself participating in her teammates' juvenile tasks? They'd given her their trust, yes, even knowing  _what_  she was and  _who_  she was. But still, they didn't know what she had done—the things she had done,  _plural._ They might know who Blake Belladonna—the name—was, but they had no idea who Blake Belladonna—the  _person_ —was.

Blake Belladonna, the person certainly didn't deserve their trust.

She thought about running (again) then. She thought about being free of conflicting thoughts and emotions She thought about cutting such complicated relationships—relationships that didn't begin and end with one word _, 'teammate'—_ out of her life with just one action. Because—because this, all of  _this,_ was hitting much too close for Blake and she worried that she'd fall in the same hole again—that maybe she was destined to continue falling down holes made out of her own  _bad decisions._

But then Areyn had reported her status and Yang had ordered Blake and duty called, as it always did. It was something Blake was all too familiar with.

Blake sighed in defeat. She jumped onto the window sill. The covers were down—she was lucky. Blake cracked open the window by a fraction of its length. It was easy enough—almost  _too easy_ —and that was enough to set her on edge.

So Blake crouched and listened—as still as a statue. Her scroll sat in her pocket, recording like Yang had asked for.

"...have all the information in the world but none of the  _important information?!"_ the  _Schnee_ was hissing. "It's.  _Literally._  Just.  _One. Thing!"_

"Cool it, Weiss. We've got this," said Yang's sister. "Hehe,  _cool it."_

It seemed making bad jokes was hereditary. What a true nightmare, Blake couldn't help thinking.

"No one is laughing, Ruby," the Schnee said, irritated. "Besides you. Obviously."

"Hey, I thought it was funny," went the crazy one.

"Nora, you think everything is funny," snapped the Schnee.

"Gu-uys~ We're trying to hold a meeting here!" Ruby whined. "Right, Ren? Also, welcome back."

"Hm."

"Look—we don't know  _when_  they're going to attack, we just know that they  _will_ ," Ruby continued. "We need to find out somehow,  _any_ how—the fate of Vale depends on it."

Blake's ears—her  _faunus_ pair—twitched. She leaned closer to the window.

"Oh  _please._ " The Schnee scoffed. "It's only the Port and some dust. No one will miss  _those._ "

"Rich people logic." The crazy one let out a dramatic sigh.

"Hey—! Fine. I get it, okay? Ports equal trade and transportation and those are important or whatever."

"And they might postpone the Vytal Festival if the Port is compromised," said the only decent one. "Imagine the fall-out—"

"Ren's right," said the Schnee, doing a complete one-eighty. "The Vytal Festival  _can't_ be postponed. It's a time of negotiations, deals,  _alignments—_ "

"So...like, rich people politics?" the insane one surmised.

"No—I mean, if you  _must_ call it that."

"Guys! Why do we always get distracted?!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Wel—"

"That was a rhetorical question, Nora," said Ruby, exasperated. "Ren, tell us what we  _do_ know."

"Hm. We know that  _The Faction_ is behind the recent dust raids—"

"We need a better name than just 'The Faction'. It's so...so  _ugh._ " interrupted the insane one. "Vote? Anyone?"

"Nora!" snapped the Schnee.

Ren continued, unbothered. "—and we know that crime lord  _Roman Torchwick_ has been the one aiding them.

"In addition,  _Roman Torchwick_ and his new conspirators, the  _White Fang—_ "

Blake's mind went blank. Then it went haywire and she was afraid she'd heard  _right._ She swallowed back—what was it?— _desperation? Please be wrong,_ she thought.  _Please._

"—will be striking Vale's most prominent port any day. Our current goal is to  _stop them—_ but to do so, we require knowledge of when they plan to operate."

"Ugh, the  _White Fang._ How am I not surprised?" the Schnee commented venomously.

Ruby sighed. "Okay, how are we going to figure this out? Any ideas, guys? Nora? Why is your hand raised?"

"We should stake out for them! We can take turns waiting and then they have to show up  _some time!"_

"Great idea—except it's awful," the Schnee said.

"Yeah, sorry Nora...sounds  _really_ fun!—Except it's kind of not... _doable,_ " Ruby said.

Blake slid close the window. She'd heard more than enough.

She was on the ground in a single, silent leap. Climbing one's way up was always harder than falling—Blake had learned at an early age. Blake looked for the gates that lead to the dorms. She scaled them and walked inside with practiced ease.

But still, she had one more thing to do before she reported to Yang.

Blake took out her scroll—

—and deleted her recording in a single swipe.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Alas, people's pasts just have to come back to bite them. Also, Team RWRN and Team JSBR! Remember them?
> 
> Writing Patreon: www.patreon/arosz
> 
> To next chapter! ~ Aros


	12. Secrets & Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

"You  _forgot?"_ Yang said incredulously.

Blake nodded mutely. Blake shifted and looked away, uncomfortable. It wasn't hard to see why, Yang was a scary interrogator.

"Hm? Is anything the matter?" asked Pyrrha, turning around. She had her lance in one hand and she was in the middle of putting her shield in the closet.

Areyn remembered bee-lining back to their room when she saw Pyrrha approaching the dorms. Then Yang and Areyn had scrambled to look for all the world like they were getting ready for bed. Thank the lords for straight-faces, Areyn had thought.

Anyway, Areyn had already been strong-armed into one crazy shenanigan that night—one too many, she might add—and she wasn't keen on helping anyone out again. She ignored Pyrrha and Blake and Yang and threw her sheets over her head.

Good night!

"Nothing! Nothing," Yang told Pyrrha. "Blake uh… Blake forgot to restock our toilet paper."

"...There was still toilet paper when I checked?" asked Pyrrha, confused.

"Oh! I guess Areyn did it when I wasn't looking!"

Areyn groaned and hid under her pillow. I miss having my own room, she thought.

* * *

Areyn didn't bother hiding her abject horror.

D-Did Professor Peach just say  _group project?_

There was, in fact, the words 'group project' in capital letters on the board.

Areyn cowered in fear.

Maybe she was being over dramatic—she didn't care. Group projects were the  _worst_. They were Areyn's number one motivation for graduating high school early (next to the pride and the bragging rights, but that wasn't important), like c'mon, who  _wanted_ to work with anyone? Who wanted to collaborate on a project where they had to  _share credit_ and  _agree on stuff?_

"...And no," Professor Peach was saying, "You  _may not_ work with someone on your team." She smiled and there was a malicious twinkle in her eyes. "I consider that cheating." The class appeared to develop the power of  _synchronized groans_ at that exact moment.

Areyn liked Professor Peach enough. She was one of those teachers that didn't have to be 'hip with the young ones' as much as she  _already was._ She got the trends and the newest shows and all of the social media and she got along well enough with all the students that weren't complete dicks and terrors to society. Look, Professor Peach even  _dressed_  like a proper person with the times—she usually came into class with jeans and a buttoned up shirt (which Professor Goodwitch was  _always_ griping about when she didn't think students were listening). That day, Professor Peach had her bright orange hair (a 'normal' color on Remnant) in a ponytail and green lenses. Peach had an obsession with wearing contact lenses—there was a student betting pool going around trying to guess her  _real_ eye color.

Still— _group project?!_

"I know, I know," Professor Peach said. "A pain in the butt—still, some of you need to get out more!" She spread her arms like she was trying to make a point.

Areyn tried not to feel personally insulted. She failed and one of her eyes twitched. But then, Weiss looked downright scandalized so Peach probably missed that.

The second-years all stood up at the same time  _like they planned it or something_ and began partnering up. Areyn watched, disillusioned, as school celebrity Coco Adel flop into the seat next to Evelyn Zowel and Laurel Shah joined Fox Alabaster.

Well—really, Areyn had seen this scene play out millions of times before. It was the natural life of a loner  _by choice—_ emphasize on  _by choice,_ totally  _by choice—_  like Areyn. Yup. Mmhm.

"Areyn—" started Professor Peach, eyebrow raised. "—Weiss is available."

"...What." Areyn did not adjust well to getting knocked out of her own thoughts.

A pile of books slammed onto the desk right next to Areyn. Areyn jumped, startled.

Weiss glared at her.  _I don't want to be here and I don't want to work with you,_ Weiss's eyes said.

Professor Peach gave them two thumbs-ups.

Areyn felt like dy—well, not dying but definitely something like it. Weiss was one of those few people that happen to be more bearable in RWBY-the-show.

* * *

"It's weird," Areyn said suddenly, rocking on her feet. She and Pyrrha walked down the hallway—Areyn has just managed to escape fifth period and  _Weiss._ "Sometimes I feel like I don't miss home as much as I should."

Pyrrha was silent, she just glanced at Areyn. Then she said, "Perhaps you just needed a restart—a place away from the reminders of who you are."

Areyn thought about it. She remembered staying in her room for weeks on end and binging whatever show she could find and writing bad fanfiction and not bothering to do her online course works and the  _fucking psychiatrist visits_ and she decided: "Yeah, yeah, I think you're right."

"Hm. So you were telling me about your science project…?"

"Oh, yeah. We're learning about uh...mixtures of dust or whatever and Peach made us work in groups—y'know, the usual presentation stuff."

"I see."

"I hate it."

"Group projects can be enjoyable," said Pyrrha, "With the right people."

"Weiss is my partner."

"Ah… Who was Weiss again?"

Areyn nearly tripped over air. "Did you—you  _didn't—"_

And that was how Areyn learned that Pyrrha was awful with names and faces and utterly out of the loop about just about everything.

* * *

Weiss invited herself into the ABYN dorm. She made a mild face of disgust at the cluttered room—courtesy of Yang—and the messy beds. Well, Areyn and Yang's messy beds, Blake and Pyrrha were good at folding their sheets.

Blake stared at Weiss. Blake's bow twitched. Then Blake invited herself out through the window.

"Does she always do that?" asked Weiss. She gave Pyrrha a glance.

Yang looked at the window. "Well...It  _is_ a big window."

"No, I mean—"

"Why  _is_ Blake going out so much?" Yang wondered. Absently, she closed the window and reset the blinds.

"The agreement," Pyrrha reminded Yang. Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but—" Yang started.

"Have more faith in her," Pyrrha encouraged Yang.

Weiss gingerly took Yang's gaming console off the working desk and set it on a shelf. She pushed her books and dust supplies onto the desk. She sighed and muttered, "I hate group projects."

Areyn decided it was too late to tell Weiss that she had been planning on waiting until the last minute to finish the project. Then, Weiss never struck Areyn as the procrastinating type.

"Pyrrha,  _do_  you know anything about dust reactions?" Areyn asked, desperate to not sound like an idiot. She found her scroll and began searching 'KID'S BASICS ON DUST'.

"Hm...? I suppose—I mean, I'm by no means a master on the subject—my weapons don't rely on dust, after all—"

Yang turned, curious. "Dust? Ruby's good at it. She used to go on and on about dust and explosions and weapons at dinner…"

" _Used_ to?" Weiss snorted. "At the very least, it's good to hear she was always that annoying."

"Hey, that's my sister you're talking about," Yang crossed her arms.

"That's my partner you're talking about," Weiss retorted mildly. Weiss held a dust vial up to her eye and squinted. "Whatever. I'm far more qualified than Ruby, thank you very much. Areyn, help me."

Areyn sagged and moved a chair over.

"So…" Yang was saying, "What's Ruby been up to? You'd know, right? I mean—you're her partner and partners talk to each other and live together and...stuff."

Pyrrha opened the door. She gave them a wave. "Good luck," she said and made to leave—

"Wait, you're  _leaving?"_ Weiss said.

"She trains," Areyn told Weiss dully. "All day, every day." Maybe Areyn was exaggerating, but it  _felt_  like it. Blake had practically deserted the dorms since Yang tried to stalk Ruby and the reason they even had a chance to stalk Ruby was because of Pyrrha's stacked schedule.

"B-But," Weiss sputtered, "You're going to leave me with  _them?"_

"Hey," Yang said flatly.

Areyn looked down at her scroll.

DUST - NATURALLY OCCURRING, CRYSTALLIZED ENERGY PROPELLENT TRIGGERED BY THE AURAS OF HUMANS AND FAUNUS

Pyrrha gave Weiss a disapproving frown. "Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No…" Weiss withered like some type of old tree. It was a weird visual and Areyn wondered if Weiss's opinion of her and Yang was really that bad. What impression did they ever give besides  _existing?_

"Hold this," Weiss told Areyn right after Pyrrha left. She handed Areyn a vial of some type of purple dust. "And  _don't_ drop it."

"Gravity dust?" asked Yang. "That's pretty expensive."

"Yes, well—lucky me,  _Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company,_ if you didn't recall," Weiss said sharply.

"...Okay _,_ " Yang managed. "Calm down, deep breaths, take that stick out of your a—"

Areyn interrupted Yang. "What are we doing with the gravity dust or whatever?" she asked quickly, shaking the vial a little.

"Don't do that!" snapped Weiss. "I came here to  _avoid_ dust accidents, not to start them!" Areyn flinched. Weiss rubbed her face. "I—that wasn't warranted, I'm  _stressed._  Ugh."

Areyn noticed the dark bags under Weiss's eyes for the first time then. She played back all the times the heiress had acted sluggish or grumpy or snappy—well, snappier than usual.

"Huh," Areyn said.

"..." Weiss ignored Areyn and went back to fiddling with test-tubes and green dust— _wind_  dust. "Just...record the results."

Yang sat on the edge of her bed and crossed her legs. "Does this have something to do with where you keep on going?" she asked. Yang narrowed her eyes. "I'm talking about how tired you are—not the dust project, that looks boring."

"...What?" Weiss asked. She grabbed the vial from Areyn's hand and replaced it with a pile of worksheets and a pencil.

"Team RWRN," Yang said. "Everyone knows you guys don't even show up to class, half the time."

"There are rumors," muttered Areyn. She couldn't help it—she'd been collecting these rumors for  _weeks._

"Yes, well—mind your own business,  _both of you,"_ Weiss said shortly.

"Look, I can't care less about what  _you're_ up to, Ice Queen. I'm just looking out for Ruby." Yang made a strangled growl in the back of her throat like she was holding back on exploding on Weiss.

"Then talk to her yourself. I doubt she'll say anything though—she's surprisingly tight-lipped." Weiss looked at Areyn. "Are you writing everything down?"

"This conversation?" Areyn asked, distracted.

"No, you idiot. The experiment. Pay attention."

"What? Yeah, sure. You're making hard-light dust, right?" Areyn closed and deleted it from her browser history.

"Obviously. What else does wind dust and gravity dust make?"

"Um…" Areyn decided that was a rhetorical question.

Weiss picked shards of wind dust with tweezers and set them in a long container. She took a spoon and shook powdered gravity dust on it. Weiss set down the vial, grabbed a funnel, and—

"Gah!"

_Bzzzz ~Ruby Rose!~ Bzzzz_

"Ugh,  _Ruby!"_ Weiss set down her funnel and gave the spoon to Areyn. "Put the dust back in the vial, clean the table—I'll be back."

Weiss unfolded her scroll and answered Ruby. She stumbled out of the room.

"I was  _busy,_ no—you don't need to tell me that this is more important… _I know, I know…_ " Weiss closed the door behind her.

Areyn looked at the table and groaned. "She left  _everything._ "

"That sucks," Yang said, not really paying attention to Areyn. The blonde stared at the door like she was trying to will Weiss back in.

Yeah, Yang probably wasn't done interrogating Weiss yet.

Areyn got up and went to the bathroom for toilet paper. She had the feeling that Weiss would yell at her for endangering the school population if she didn't clean up the mess that Weiss made—on accident, but still, Areyn was allowed to feel petty.

"I hate group projects," Areyn muttered. She looked at Yang. "What do you think that was all about?"

"I don't know. I want to find out." Yang stood up like a woman possessed. "Join me?"

Areyn glanced at the table and looked at Yang and glanced at the table again. "I hate cleaning," she said simply.

They waited until they couldn't hear Weiss's footsteps from a crack in the door. Areyn was crouched behind Yang and they must've looked like idiots, crouching and peering out their door for some strange reason.

Yang gave Areyn the all-clear—a wave of the hand—and pushed the door. It swung open.

"...What are you two doing?" Pyrrha stood in the hallway, face blank and a hand still reaching out for the doorknob.

"Pyrrha!" Yang fell backward. Areyn scrambled out of the way. "What are you—Oh, what's the time?"

"Late," Areyn grumbled, reaching for her scroll. "Eight."

Pyrrha dropped the last question—giving Areyn and Yang the benefit of the doubt and asked, "Hm...Weiss left?"

"In a hurry," Yang said. She stood up and brushed dust off her shirt. She coughed awkwardly. "Uh...The desk is a mess."

Pyrrha looked at their working desk, covered with powdered dust, test tubes, and worksheets. "Yes," she said mildly, "I can tell."

"Don't worry, I'm cleaning it up," Areyn mumbled, brandishing her toilet paper.

"Yeah," Yang told Pyrrha. "You just came in at the wrong time. That's all."

Areyn groaned and got to cleaning. Science  _was_ always her least favorite class. Experiments were the  _worst._

The ABYN dorm fell into silence—not the  _comfortable silence_ they always described in books—just…silence. No one had anything to say so no one said anything— _that_ type of silence. They walked around each other and did their own things and had their own thoughts and well...it felt like they were all a million miles away. Pyrrha discarded all her armor and took a shower. Yang got in her pajamas and flopped onto bed. Areyn finally managed to organize Weiss's stuff and sat down, leaning backward.

"What's Blake up to?" Areyn wondered, because the last thing she needed was  _thinking_ about her own problems and hiccups.

Yang pulled herself into a sitting position. She furrowed her brows. "She's usually back by now. I'm going to call—"

"Give Blake space," Pyrrha told Yang, walking out of the bathroom. "You can't suffocate her all the time—"

"Yeah, but—"

"At least a few more hours," Pyrrha said, her tone confident. "I'm sure she'll be back by then."

* * *

Blake was not back by then. Her bed stayed conspicuously empty and the windows hadn't even budged. Worse, Yang's constant pacing had stopped Areyn from getting any sleep.

"Just call her," Areyn said flatly, rubbing her eyes.  _Please, I need my sleep and my sanity._ Even the  _lights_ were on.

Yang didn't need to be asked twice. She dialed Blake's number and pressed speaker.

Pyrrha yawned and waited with them.

_Bzzzz_

_Bzzzz_

_Bzzzz_

_Bzzzz_

_Bzzzz—k_

" _What's this? A scroll. Aw, were you trying to call for help, Belladonna? Look—I already answered."_

" _No—stop it, Jason! They don't—"_

" _Stop it?! You ABANDONED the White Fang! You BETRAYED Adam! You will PAY for your—"_

_Zzzzzzz~_

"..." Yang stared at her scroll.

They all did—they all stared at Yang's scroll and remembered the words and the voices that had come out of it.

Yang threw her scroll across the room. Her eyes flickered red. She took Ember Celica from her bedside and ran for the window—

"Wait!" Areyn cried. "Don't—You're not—You can't go  _in your pajamas!"_

_And you can't go at all because I know where this is going (I think) and I don't like where it's going and PLEASE STOP, I guess I should've thought about this with all the time I have, but why is it happening now?!_

"Areyn's right," Pyrrha threw off her bedsheets and dropped to the ground. "You need—We need to prepare. We don't even know where Blake  _is—_ "

"Well, we do," Areyn said—she just couldn't help correcting people, "But we need a scroll—"

"Good." Pyrrha waved her hand and her armor and weapons soared for her and attached themselves. "Areyn, you're responsible for the scroll—get ready."

Areyn didn't want to but—

—she couldn't  _not_ go anymore, could she? Not with Pyrrha and Yang both there and—and forcing her hand, really.

Areyn rolled off her bed. She managed to get back up and grab her leather coat on the way. Blood roared in her ears and she was having trouble concentrating.  _Bad things are happening,_ her brain told her.  _No duh._

"Already ready," Yang growled, wrapping her scarf around her neck. "Hurry  _up._ " She rammed open the windows and jumped off the ledge.

Areyn stopped putting on her shield and stared. She didn't even know if she could  _make_ that jump—(of course she could, she was  _invincible,_ but that didn't mean she  _wanted to feel the experience_ ).

"I-I need to concentrate," Areyn said. She clenched her scroll. "I need to—my scroll—"

"Then hold on!" Pyrrha lept outside. It was dark, Areyn realized. It was really dark outside and they had no idea what was out there and what if the Grimm—

"Wha—" Areyn tried to say, but her words clogged in her throat when she was pulled out of the dorm by her shield—like she was—like she was some kind of  _giant magnet._ "Ghhhh—!"

Areyn bit down on her tongue hard. She tasted tar and bile and she wheezed.

_This is going to hurt._

She wasn't just talking about her tongue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Areyn is kind of a dick and wants to save her own skin.
> 
> Writing Essays: www.patreon.com/arosz
> 
> To the Season I finale! ~ Aros


	13. Black & White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Volume I - Chapter XIII: Black & White Pt. I
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

* * *

Areyn found a grip on her scroll. She didn't know how long Pyrrha could keep her afloat and she wasn't willing to test the limits. She had to get results—fast.

Anyway—Areyn told herself.  _Anyway,_ she could find Blake. That was something she could do. Something only she could do or the only something she could do. It didn't matter by this point.

Areyn pulled her scroll open. Immediately, a bunch of news articles popped onto the screen.

_Ugh, NOT NOW—_

* * *

EXPLOSIONS REPORTED IN PORT AREA

POLICE CONFRONT MYSTERIOUS WOMAN

WHITE FANG ACTIVITY ON WESTERN VALE

…

* * *

Oh. Well.

"The Port!" Areyn managed over the wind. Her mouth instantly went dry. Areyn cursed the cold weather—and the time.

"Ghh—" She was thrown into the clearing, the docking bays if the shuttles were any indication.

Pyrrha and Yang races for the nearest shuttle. Areyn scrambled to her feet and followed—she lamented that then was a good time as any to really regret not taking that training serious enough.

She was  _so_ going to become more proactive after this.

Well, that would imply an 'after this'—which Areyn guessed there was, but hey, she didn't have to admit that.

Yang grabbed Areyn's scroll from out of her hand and swiped it on the docking bay pad. The pad blinked red.

"Fuck," Yang seethed. She tried again and got the same result. " _Fuck._ "

"...After curfew," Pyrrha said, stating the obvious.

Areyn only half heard them. Her adrenaline-fused mind was working at a thousand miles an hour and she really just  _could not concentrate._ "For the love of gods, just vandalize it or something!"

Yang faltered and stared at Areyn. "Wha—"

Pyrrha activated her spear. She stabbed the docking bay pad through the head. Then—with a scary expression on her face—Pyrrha dislodged her spear and matched into the airship. "Let's go."

"Does anyone know how to  _drive_ an airship?" Areyn asked airily—her voice might've reached a new record high by the end of the sentence.

Yang shoved pass her. "No."

"Oh."  _Haha._ Against her will or against her better judgement—or both, Areyn followed Yang.

"Areyn, I need—You're good with technology?" Pyrrha asked, running to the front of the airship. She began flicking random switches and pressing random buttons—which really wasn't for the faint of heart.

"Uh...yeah?  _Not airships._ "

"No one here is 'good at airships'.  _Help me._ "

"G-Got it. Yang, give me my scroll."

"Just hurry up."

Areyn took her scroll back. When in doubt, use the internet, she thought. She almost giggled, but then she remembered Blake and Yang and Pyrrha. Areyn didn't think anything was funny after that.

She ran to Pyrrha's side. "Okay—um… 'locate flight controls'—

"Done."

" 'Locate throttle and fue—damn it, here, just read this." Areyn showed Pyrrha her scroll.  _Look, it even comes with pictures_ , she thought to say, but then thought better of it. Better watch her mouth, more like.

Pyrrha scrolled down the website, then slid into the pilot's seat. She cracked her knuckles. "Very well. Let's do this."

Areyn closed her scroll. "Wait. Did you even rea—"

"Truthfully? No." Pyrrha gunned the throttle.

* * *

It was a rocky flight—that would be the understatement of the year, Areyn thought. Still, she would've preferred a hundred more near-crashes and almost-explosions to arriving at the Port. Or maybe she wouldn't have. When she thought about it, Areyn couldn't find an excuse  _not_ to go.

She couldn't die. She was indestructible. Sure, it all hurt like a bitch, but that wasn't much of an excuse was it now?

Areyn concluded she was just bothered by a  _major inconvenience_.

She didn't get too far down that line of thought though, interrupted by—

—a dust-coated missile streaking towards their airship.

"Swerve! Swerve!" Areyn yelled.  _Oh, shit—too late._

The airship exploded—Areyn was hurled into the air. Then she was  _burning_ and  _falling._

That dry wind kicked in again. It seared Areyn's skin—scraping at her body. She plummeted to the ground like a rock.

The impact probably killed her—honestly, she couldn't much tell anymore.

There was always a period—a period that felt instantaneous to Areyn—when she  _blacked out._ It was like going to sleep. It felt like no time passed to  _you,_ but who knew how long you've really been out?

When Areyn 'woke', she was in a crater, oozing black tar from every pore of her body. Areyn let out a strangled, gurgly cough. She felt her body snap back together, stitch itself back together, into working order. Her pain receptors must have broke or something because she couldn't feel anything until suddenly, she  _could._ If her vocal cords had been in working order, she would've screamed. Areyn just managed to bite down on her lips. It tasted of tar.

"What  _is_ that thing?!"

Areyn managed to tilt her head up. She saw Grimm masks and dark figures.

"I think it's a person!"

"From the aircraft Tusk shot down?!"

Talk about a headache, Areyn thought.  _So annoying._ Her fingers were numb—numb but throbbing  _and alive._ Areyn touched hot metal—hot burning metal—and pulled. She pulled the trigger.

The recoil threw her backwards—gritting her teeth, Areyn dug her feet into the ground. She skidded to a stop at the end of the crater, leaving a trail of black tar in her wake. The tar turned smoky and vanished into the air.

Areyn's missile blew up the edge of the crater. A masked figure fell into the crater, cursing.

Well, maybe Areyn hadn't thought that through all the way through. Areyn scrambled for the upper ground. She pulled herself over the edge of the crater.

Looking back at the wreckage—Areyn recognized flaming debris as pieces of an aircraft.

Professor Goodwitch was going to be  _pissed._

Whatever, not important.

Areyn was behind what looked like a supply crate.  _Behind her,_ was the crash site. To her sides were open space. So—where were the others?  _DId they make it out?_

Well—obviously, they did. They were the protagonists! They had plot armor! ...Besides Pyrrha.  _Big besides._

Areyn whirled around to the sound of clattering rock. Without realizing it, she had moved into a defensive stance, shield up. Well, it wasn't a good stance, feet too wide apart and hands too close together. Pyrrha would yell at her.

"Woah, weapon down, miracle kid. I'm not here to hurt you." It was that White Fang lady Areyn had accidentally blown into the crater. Her Grimm mask resembled something like a snake and she was tall. She raised her hands. "Heh, contrary to popular belief, the White Fang  _doesn't_ kill every human we see."

Areyn couldn't hold back a retort. "You shot down an— _my_ aircraft! I don't even know if everyone made it!"

"To be fair, we thought you were the police—or worse,  _huntsmen._ Well, I guess you are—huntsman-in-training?—but no offense, kid, I don't think you're gonna be much of a threat."

"...Okay," Areyn said. What was she supposed to say? This White Fang lady was a lot nicer than the last White Fang person she had met (then again, M&M  _did_ stab her—there wasn't much competition).

The lady gave her a thumbs up. "Good. Stay right there and I'm just gonna  _knock you out_ for a bit—"

"...what—"

The White Fang member suddenly ricocheted forward, collapsing onto the ground. Yang stepped over her, her gauntlets smoking. "What are you  _doing_?"

"Um...talking—"

"No, I can see  _that._ " Yang looked angry—beyond angry, really. Areyn reflexively took a step back. Yang was battered and scratched, her aura kept on flickering like a broken light bulb. Her eyes glowed red. She suddenly surged forward and grabbed Areyn by the cuffs of Ruby's leather jacket. "For once, can you be something besides  _deadweight?!"_ she growled.

"Wha—"

"Or maybe that's all you can do! Listen up, you piece of shit, because Pyrrha and  _Blake_ won't spell it out but  _I will._ When we fought the Grimm, you sat back and  _watched,_ when Blake ran away, you stayed behind and  _couldn't even keep a handcuffed prisoner around,_ in Beacon, you  _don't even try_ , and I can't even remember that our team starts with the first letter in  _your name_ half the time! And now—now  _you're talking with the enemy?_ " Yang's voice cracked. "We still can't find Blake—we don't know where she is—and you're  _making friends?_ "

"I—"

"Whatever." Yang dropped Areyn like a sack of rocks. Areyn couldn't hold it together—she slid to the ground. Yang regarded Areyn coldly. "We'll handle this. Just—don't get in the way."

The blonde stormed off. Areyn caught a glimpse of Pyrrha standing a distance away, she had taken the missile even worse than Yang and she bled out of cuts all over her body. Pyrrha gave Areyn a sad glance—then she followed Yang.

Areyn flinched. Her hands shook.

* * *

_She didn't get out of bed that day, or the day after that, or the day after that day._

_Endless cycle. Never changing._

_You were great once, she thought, you had the whole world in your hands._

_She remembered their looks_ — _disappointed, justified, pitying._

' _Why did you give up?' some of them asked._

' _It was bound to happen,' some of them said._

' _Called it,' they remarked. 'They all snap one day, don't they?'_

 _Shut up, she thought. Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut u_ —

* * *

She curled in on herself and told herself that Yang's words hadn't cut into her. They hadn't.

They hadn't—and Areyn wasn't trembling and  _her eyes sure as hell weren't clouding up._

She wasn't crying— _she wasn't._

* * *

Yang didn't feel bad. She really didn't. Areyn had it coming for her— _she did._ Still, the girl wasn't one of them. She wasn't made to be a Huntress—Yang didn't think she could even  _throw a punch right._ She was kind of pathetic, honestly.

...Okay, maybe Yang felt a little bad—like she'd kicked a fucking puppy or something.

Yang let out her frustration the best way she could—by  _hitting things._ She hooked a random White Fang dude in the stomach, the energy she stored from the crash bursting out against her will.

"Yang, we're here for Blake—not for the White Fang," Pyrrha reminded her. The Mistralian slammed a masked faunus with her shield, sending him flying.

"I know," Yang growled. "I'll get the high ground. It's easier to see."

"Agreed. We have no idea what we've entered."

Worse, Yang was hard-pressed to trust Areyn's words. Was Blake really at the docks? Yeah, the White Fang was here but—

—She was hyperventilating.  _Focus. Control._

They ran for the nearest warehouse. Yang made a running jump and grabbed the ledge of a window. She grunted, the impact had shaken her to the bones—not a good sign, her aura was failing.

Yang had a lot of aura. She should have had more than enough to handle a jump like that.

She broke through the window and crawled into the building. She looked down at the Port. "Fuck, that's a lot of Bullheads," she said. "You getting this, Pyrrha?"

Below, Pyrrha fended off a pair of White Fang asses. "Yes—"

"They—I think they're  _stealing dust._ " Was that crime lord  _Roman Torchwick?_ He was arrested weeks ago! But then—that guy never seemed to stay in prison long anyway.

"Ghh—" Pyrrha flipped one of the masked faunus over their head. "Stealing dust? I-I think I heard of a string of dust robberies—"

"Yeah, I guess we'll tell the police after we  _find Bla—_ " Yang stopped abruptly, her voice faltering at the sight of a familiar black blur. The figure duplicated and then disappeared behind a crate, followed by a large masked guy with a chainsaw.

Yang acted first and thought later. She jumped out of the building and landed on her feet running. "Got her! Keep them busy for me!"

" _Yang—_ "

Yeah, Yang didn't listen to Pyrrha. She blasted her gauntlets and used the recoil to speed up—a trick she picked up from Ruby. She leaped over the crate—

—slamming into the masked chainsaw faunus.

Yang managed to make out the blood red logo of the White Fang on the back of the faunus's uniform before she was thrown off. She slammed into the crate. Yang groaned, dizzy.  _She wasn't supposed to be dizzy. That crash really did take a lot out of her, huh? She didn't remember being so weak in a long time._

"Yang—!"

Hey there.

Yang felt fingers wrap around her throat. They lifted her into the air. She struggled in the grip—wheezing.  _Die, asshole._

"Fraternizing with the enemy?" asked the masked faunus. His voice was heated—full of hate. "You manage to reach new lows, traitor."

"Humans  _aren't the enemy,_  Jason," Blake pleaded. "Even Adam—"

"Careful what you say, traitor, or something bad might happen." Jason strengthened his grip on Yang.

 _Yeah, try it,_ Yang thought. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"What do you  _want,_ Jason? Really. I mean—you're working with  _Roman Torchwick,_ of all people!" Yang had never heard Blake sound so... _desperate._

"It's a... _temporary alignment of interests._ Adam understood our opportunity—and took it," Jason said.

Yang flexed her fingers.  _Hurt and hurt back,_ she understood. Action and reaction. Decisions and consequences.

Some people say semblance is a manifestation of a person's personality.

Yang didn't believe in that spiritual crap most of the time but—

—when she swung that punch, aura flaring, eyes red, and hair on fire, she thought,  _yeah, I can get behind that one._

Yang's fist connected with Jason's chest. Jason's body curved to Yang's fist—there was a second of stillness in the air, everything was silent, motionless—then Jason was launched backward. He soared through the Port and slammed into a Bullhead—just barely missing Roman Torchwick. The aircraft rocked—then Jason fell forward on his face.

"Gotcha," Yang said, a weak grin on her face. She wobbled, woozy and still dizzy—and her legs buckled.

Blake caught her before she could hit the floor.

" _What are you doing here?_ " Blake hissed.

Pyrrha appeared around the crate. She came to a slow stop, huffing and puffing—exhausted. "W-We received your call, it was only natural we'd come and—" Pyrrha had to hold onto the crate for support. "Sorry, I—" She coughed violently. "I'm afraid my aura broke a while ago."

Blake looked between Pyrrha and Yang. "You shouldn't have—" Her eyes widened. "The airship. You're walking off a  _crash?!"_

"On the bright side," Yang remarked, "We can cross that off my bucket list."

"We need to go," Pyrrha said, "Get Areyn and report to the authorities. The police and huntsmen will handle the rest."

"You know what?" Yang said. "For once, I'm okay with that." She struggled to her feet. Vale was in the direction Yang had come from—that warehouse she'd jumped out of. It would've been an easy trip if not for the White Fang running around and enthusiastic to kill them all.

Blake let go of Yang and rushed forward, wrapping her ribbon around a masked faunus and swiftly knocking them out. "...Hurry."

On silent consensus, they ran for the warehouses. Yang blasted warning shots—probably not the best idea when she barely had any ammo left, Blake was still able enough to handle one or two grunts at a time, and Pyrrha manipulated their weapons.

Lights struck Yang and she stumbled to a stop—or else she would've gotten flattened by a bullhead. The fans on the bulkhead blew on Yang's hair and clothes, sending chills down her back.

The doors slid open and a small figure walked out, smirking. The girl was—weird, she had pink and brown hair and two-toned eyes. Even though it wasn't raining at all, she had a pink umbrella throw slung over her shoulder.

Torchwick's assistant, Yang recognized from her time at Junior's Bar. Shit.

"I recognize you," Pyrrha said, stopping. "At the bar—the poker ga—ghh!" Pyrrha barely managed to block the assistant's umbrella. She didn't manage to block a barrage of jabs and strikes and she fell to her knees.

Blake swung Gambol Shroud, fired shots—Torchwick's assistant dodged them all. The assistant did a somersault, kicked Blake, sent Yang's partner skidding.

They were outmatched, Yang realized, 3-1 and they were outmatched. For fuck's sake, was the whole world out to get her?

She swung her fist at the back of the assistant. The assistant blocked contact with her umbrella. She turned—not at all phased—and hooked Yang in the stomach. Her umbrella came from the side, crashing into Yang's shoulder. Yang recoiled, her legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground. "Fuck," she cursed, coughing. "Shit."

The assistant tilted her head, looked down at all with barely a hint of malice—like they were just rats that happened to get in the way, undeserving of any real notice. Yang hated it. Hated what she was reminded of.

Blake struggled to her feet, wheezing. She recalled Gambol Shroud with a flick of the hand. Her eyes were hard, defiant—and Yang wondered how many things she missed about her partner.

Torchwick's assistant blinked, unbothered. She shrugged and made a 'get me' motion with her hand.

Blake shifted, moved into a fighting stance, and striked—

—Yang's blood ran cold. She heard the roaring of a chainsaw before she saw it. Blake swerved, tripping over and stumbling.

Jason was splattered in black tar—his chainsaw stuck deep in a body just behind Blake.

"H-Heh." Areyn coughed. "D-Deadweights h-have their b-benefits," she remarked darkly, a blood-soaked hand on Jason's chainsaw. Her grin was hollow. "Gotcha."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> ABYN is in way over their heads.
> 
> Writing Patreon: www.patreon/arosz
> 
> Best SI you've read? For me, 'Canon-Patchworking with Uchiha Ren' by MissDiRed and 'Sakura' by Darkpetal16 come to mind. The Naruto fanfiction archive sure is famous for its SIs, huh? ~ Aros


	14. Black & White Pt. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

"Gotcha."

It hurt like hell. Didn't everything hurt like hell? Everything iN THIS STUPID FUCKING WORLD!

Areyn breathed, she rasped. Really, she was trying to focus on anything besides the  _chainsaw ripping apart her body._

They say that your life flashed before your eyes when you die—Areyn had conclusive evidence that that was  _false,_ but she wished it was real. That your life really did flash before your eyes. Maybe that's what they were talking about, that it hurts so much that you need a distraction—and what better distraction is there than your entire life?

She'd lashed out, Areyn remembered. Back at that supply crate where Yang had yelled at her, she'd lash out. When she had the strength to move again—Areyn had been angry—at herself.  _What had she been doing?_ Being pathetic, that was it. Pathetic and weak and—

The White Fang had found her, standing over the body of one of their own. They had attacked.

Areyn had been angry—angry and boiling with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

She didn't remember what happened next—just that there were a few more bodies on the ground when she could feel and see things again. Black smoke made the perfect cover to get out of the area.

She had wanted to run away—the others didn't need her, didn't want her, and they had good reasons— _logical_  reasons. Areyn was useless and weak and not worth the effort to save. She'd had done everyone a favor if she disappeared into the night.

Then she'd saw a body fly across the Port, crash into an aircraft. She'd looked in the direction the body had come from, found a battered blonde and a dark-haired figure. She'd paused, faltered, and watched. She'd seen them— _her team_ —run and seen the White Fang man with the chainsaw rise and give chase.

Areyn didn't know what she had been thinking. What the hell? Why did she have to put herself in the face of danger? In this world of hurt?

Why—

—did she have to face this reality?

Her semblance was fast. The chainsaw ripped her body apart, her semblance mended it back together. Dark tar flew. Areyn couldn't see anything but black—pitch black nothingness. And she thought—

— _get it over with._

She was worthless anyway. Trash. She'd spent her life living the 'what could've been's and the 'if only…'s. She'd spent it wasting away when she was too afraid to face reality—too afraid to  _live._

This was her punishment. Eternal punishment. Fitting. Ironic. She could get behind it—if she hadn't been  _the one._

"DIE!" Jason—she'd figured out his name by now—pulled his chainsaw out of her body. It made a sound that deafened Areyn's ears, it took a few seconds for Jason to unstick the chainsaw.

Areyn didn't look down—she couldn't if she wanted to. She wanted to say she could feel it—but she couldn't. She was numb, and somehow, that was worse than anything.

Jason raised his chainsaw for another go. Areyn didn't have the energy to stop him—didn't have the will.

"AREYN!"

—Pyrrha?

Areyn thought she could see moving red in the corner of her eyes.

—No.

— _No._

No one was dying for her— _she wasn't important enough, she couldn't hold that burden._

Areyn summoned strength in her legs—she jumped, the black tar following her, leaping into the air. She didn't know what she was aiming for—all she needed was to  _stall for time._ She slammed her shield into Jason's mask. Jason's mask cracked and he covered his face.

Areyn fell to the ground, scraped her left side. She couldn't move—couldn't feel. She felt like she was floating in the air—separate from reality.  _Oh, so this is what Death really feels like._

"R-Run," she rasped.  _Get out of here—this is your chance to leave me.._

Black tar crawled towards her and her world went dark.

* * *

Pyrrha stumbled in front of Jason.

She couldn't stop it.

She couldn't stop him.

She had failed—if Areyn wasn't  _Areyn,_ she would've failed.

The life of a human being would have ended  _because of her._

_Too slow._

This was what they had been training for, what her entire life revolved around.  _Protecting the people who couldn't protect themselves._

She'd been scared—scared of confrontation and that had  _stopped her._

Areyn crashed onto the ground behind Jason—only when tar started creeping towards the prone body could Pyrrha take solace in the fact that Areyn wasn't gone,  _not yet._

"R-Run," Areyn rasped.

"RAHH!" Yang's aura flared, her hair seemed to light on fire as she slammed her fist into Jason's side.

Jason flew—but a ribbon wrapped around his waist and dragged him back down.

Pyrrha hadn't ever used her Semblance like that—slammed a metal crate into someone with the intention to  _hurt them_ —but she did, and bones cracked and the impact sent Jason off the Port, into the ocean.

Neo—that was the name of the small, umbrella girl, Pyrrha remembered—tilted her head, gave a little clap, and snatched Pyrrha by her outstretched arm. She pulled and slammed Pyrrha into the ground.

Pyrrha saw stars—saw a chainsaw cutting through a person and knew that the image would be burned into her mind forever.

How could—

—such atrocities exist in this world?

* * *

Blake knew it was all her fault. Again. Always.

Adam was right, but then—when was he ever wrong?

She knew she should apologize, apologize and expect no forgiveness. How could anyone accept what had happened to them—what Areyn experienced?

She had wanted to—well, she didn't know what she had wanted anymore. To prove the world wrong? That the White Fang hadn't stooped so low as to work with the likes of Roman Torchwick? Or had she already known—the direction that Adam had been taking their branch? Had she just wanted to see the fruition of his dreams with her own eyes and think—

—You've gone too far, after all. You'd promised me you wouldn't.

Jason had fallen down the same hole Blake had, believed a little too much in a broken man's ideals. She knew he'd dedicated his life to Adam—and it scared her, that she  _could've been him._

She wanted him gone—reminders of her past—so when Yang hit him hard, but not hard enough, Blake caught him with her ribbon and planned to—

—She didn't have a plan. She never had a plan.

_What were you thinking, Blake?! Oh, I forgot...you never think._

Then Pyrrha had slammed a metal crate into Jason—and Blake had sighed in relief. But they'd forgotten about the other one, Neopolitan. Blake had heard whispers of a dangerous mute shapeshifter loyal only to Roman Torchwick—she had assumed they were falsified truths, like most things.

Blake was tired—tired of always fighting, always running, and never accomplishing anything in the end.

What was it all for?

What had it all been for?

She watched Neopolitan slam Pyrrha into the ground, winced for the red-head, moved to help but—

—they weren't going to win. She knew they couldn't win. Areyn had had the right idea, ' _run'._

Blake recalled Gambol Shroud, shifted it back into a sword, and struck.

Neopolitan dropped Pyrrha's arm. She turned, deflected Gambol Shroud. Then she jabbed at Blake. Blake dodged, caught her sword, and fired her pistol. Neopolitan opened her umbrella and the fabric caught Blake's bullets. Neopolitan closed her umbrella and leaped for Blake. She kicked Blake in the stomach. Blake skidded across the field, aura flickering.

Behind Neopolitan, Yang's eyes caught Blake. Yang motioned with her hand. Blake didn't understand—she couldn't tell what Yang wanted to say. Pincer attack, maybe? Get out of the way?

Blake—

—She didn't know Yang  _that well._

Neopolitan moved for Blake, took her umbrella and unsheathed a sharp blade. Blake tensed.

"...!?" A dark figure tackled Neopolitan from the side. Neopolitan kicked Areyn off—and Blake stared as Areyn moved sluggishly, eyes red and shadows rolling off her skin. Then it was gone and maybe Blake had imagined it all, because Areyn fell forward and collapsed like she'd used all of her strength again.

Neopolitan stood back up, looking vaguely shell-shocked.

Yang didn't miss the opportunity to hit the ground with an explosive dust combination. Neopolitan shook and turned around—

Blake threw Gambol Shroud at Neopolitan. Yang caught the end of the ribbon, wrapped it around Neopolitan, pulled. Pyrrha raised her head and a hand, Neopiltan's umbrella flew out of her hand.

Neopolitan didn't struggle. She just shrugged, tilted her head, and smiled in her bounds. Yang surged forward—-

— _Boom!_

* * *

There was ringing in Areyn's ears, like the echoes of a bell. Her head pounded, her body felt like it had been thrown through a garbage compactor—which it might as well have been.

She woke up on the ground—her nerves fried and her senses erratic. The world spun, every pore of her body screamed danger, that stupid ringing wouldn't go away.

— _Boom!_

Was that—

—fireworks in the sky?

Hey, it was raining—

—dust and embers.

Nope, she had to be imagining things. She sat up, coughed tar and hacked up dust, and tried to see—anything that made sense.

Neo—?

Neo's eyes widened, her face shifted from smug grin to something more anxious—distressed. Her image shattered into glass and she appeared outside of her bonds, running for the explosion.

"What was that…?" Yang managed.

"Something shot the bullhead—Something a lot stronger than the middle the White Fang used to shoot yo—" Blake began.

"No, not  _that. That."_ Yang motioned to Gambol Shroud, lying on the floor. "The glass—"

"Oh...Her Semblance," Blake said, deflating.

"S-Shit," Areyn said—out of pain, for the most part, but—something powerful enough to obliterate a bulkhead, something that could make  _fireballs._

Blake and Yang started, looked at her. She couldn't read their expressions, she didn't think she wanted to.

Pyrrha stood up shakily, looked at the sky, raining debris. "W-We need to go. Areyn—"

"I can move myself—" Areyn tried to stand, her back snapped and she barely managed to hold herself in a kneeling position.  _Useless. When are you going to stand on your own two feet, for once?_

"Here."

Areyn looked up. Yang stood over her, holding out a hand. Something flickered in her eyes, she looked...a little at a lost. Areyn took the hand and Yang supported her, held her steady.

…

"...Sorry," Yang said quietly, when they trailed behind the others. "For before."

Areyn glanced at Yang. She looked on ahead, into Vale. She watched the sun rise to a new day on Remnant—turning the sky orange and purple. Like Earth, she thought, but then, when was the last time she'd seen the sun rise on Earth? She smiled, self-deprecating.

"I think—I think I'm the one who should say 'sorry'."

After all the time she had wasted—all the lives she'd thrown away, maybe—

—Maybe it was time to change.

* * *

"We were too late."

Weiss looked at the Port, burning and broken. She sighed, put a hand on her hip. "Don't sound so dejected," she told Ruby, "The mission was a success."

" _And_ Roman Torchwick is dead!" Nora hit Ruby on the back. "One less evildoer to worry about, eh?"

"Actually, he would have been more beneficial alive—" Ren started.

Nora glared at him and he closed his mouth.

Weiss strengthened her hold on their discovery—pieces of papers documenting  _certain planned events._

" _Someone_  wants the fall of Vale," she said, turning away from the Port, to her teammates—turning away from the attack they'd known would happen but ignored, the attack that had finally given them an opportunity to search  _that warehouse_.

"We're going to find out who."

* * *

"...!"

Ignored.

A sigh. "If you must know, we've been  _compromised._ I really had no choice in the matter."

Lie.  _Lies_.

"Remember where you stand,  _Neopolitan._ If you really wish to honor Torchwick's memories, you can start by helping  _me._ "

"..."

"I'll send further details and coordinates tonight. In the meantime, tell your White Fang lackeys—yes,  _yours,_ Torchwick's gone now, isn't he?—to clear out  _that warehouse_ as soon as possible."

"...?"

"We're proceeding to Phase Two."

A pause. Glowing fiery eyes.

"—And I won't hesitate to end anyone who even breathes in the wrong direction— _my_ direction."

* * *

**Shattered Feelings - Volume I [ADRIFT]**

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Boy, I have a killer headache, but I guess I managed… hip, hip, hoorah for disgusting Chinese herbal medicine…
> 
> Anyway, Shattered Feelings is taking a one-week break in between Volume I and Volume II—it'll be back in two weeks!
> 
> Writing Patreon: www.p atreon/arosz


	15. Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shattered Feelings
> 
> Volume II - Chapter I: Reality
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY

 

"It's just...it's different now, okay? Back then—back before the Port, we had a  _working relationship,_ the others and I. Yang was the fun one, Blake was the book-worm, Pyrrha was the celebrity slash de facto boss, I was the moody prick that Ozpin made team leader by freak of nature. Nobody expected anything from me! I was the ass, the black sheep! There was no fixing the emo girl, why bother?

"Now?  _Now,_ I don't know. 'Course I had to be stupid and impulse-promise (is that a thing?) Yang that I'd 'change', be a better person and all that. Ha, how cheesy is that shit? But I can't go back on my word now because...hm…uh...because it'd be really  _really_ embarrassing.

"And I'm talking to myself, in the bathroom, at lunch break, because I can't deal with my own teammates. Oh, how far the mighty have fallen. ... _This is so lame._ "

Areyn sighed and splashed water on her face. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she'd forget everything and become a certified amnesiac (wasn't that a common trope anyway?). She thought a fresh start sounded pretty nice right about then—even if it had to be in Remnant.

She looked up at the mirror, her reflection did the same. It'd been three weeks since  _that day,_ but Areyn—she didn't know what was wrong with her. She couldn't get it out of her head, the—

"Ga!" Areyn backpedaled away from the sink—the mirror. She barely managed to catch herself before she fell into a bathroom stall. She took calming breaths.  _3...2...1…_ "Fuck," Areyn wheezed, calming down.

She stumbled out of the bathroom, tried to forget the image of bleeding tar and glowing red eyes, the way she had been consumed, the way the tar had started from her mouth and  _spread._

Mirrors are on the no-no list now, Areyn thought weakly.

* * *

" _What?" Areyn blinked. She touched her stomach. Numb, it was numb. She had been glad there were no phantom pains since the Port. Really, It had been one of those things she'd say 'look on the bright side!' whenever she was feeling particularly down._

 _Then she got walloped by the side of Jaune's sword and she realized she wasn't feeling much of_ anything.

_Areyn couldn't be bothered to read the nurse's name tag—she still wasn't completely over the woman's total disregard of her the first week of school._

" _Permanent damage," the nurse repeated. She pulled up an x-ray scam on her scroll and pointed at Areyn's stomach area. "Your body is constantly regenerating at unparalleled speeds in response to what it perceives as an outside threat—but it doesn't seem to account for your nervous system. ...Well, that isn't precisely true. It looks like...like it's_ morphing  _the nervous system."_

" _Um…"_

" _Nerves and neurons. I would describe it as neuropathy. Essentially, your nerves regenerate but they're_ not exactly the same  _as they were before. Damage them enough times, you break the connection between mind and body and—"_

" _I can't feel."_

" _Precisely."_

* * *

"I can't say I expect to find a student wandering the halls during lunch break. I do hope you're not planning anything of a... _bothersome_  nature, Ms. Jet."

"...Just taking a break from lunch break, Professor Goodwitch," Areyn said.

She was all too aware of the hallway, utterly vacant and silent—almost picture perfect. It had a new golden glow to it, a newly polished reddish-brown floor. Areyn speculated it was all Goodwitch's doing, what with the  _super very important event_ that afternoon.

 _Beacon must look at its absolute best_ , Goodwitch had said. Then she had glared at the student body.  _Including the people that just so happen to inhabit it._

"Hm…" Goodwitch studied Areyn, examined her carefully, as if she was trying to pick Areyn apart. "All human beings face difficult choices—make decisions that change the course of their very life and—the lives of  _others_. You are not an exception, Ms. Jet, and this is not a fictitious reality for your whims."

Areyn shifted on her feet, looked away. "I know that."

"Then perhaps you could begin acting as such." The Professor passed Areyn, her purple cape flowing after her. Embedded into Professor Goodwitch's cape, the golden insignia of a crown shined under the light of the hallway.

 _Are symbols required?_ Areyn thought absentmindedly, twitchy. Goodwitch  _had_ never liked her much. Still, Areyn didn't expect  _that._

_Not a fictitious reality, huh? I know that. I know that!_

Areyn felt the urge to kick something. Everything mattered more now. Remnant, Beacon, the teams. Ever since she—ever since she promised Yang she'd  _try._ That's what she got for fucking  _caring!_ That's why she hadn't cared before—tried not to—even before she got on Remnant, she'd  _not cared._

Because life was easier when you didn't give a shit.

Areyn straightened her back and turned around. She needed some peace and quiet, some time  _alone._ She needed to go to the library and read or something, anything.

* * *

_TEAMS ARRIVING AT BEACON FOR BI-ANNUAL VYTAL FESTIVAL. SEE THE SIGHT TONIGHT!_

_[DISLIKED]_

* * *

Areyn had her hand prop her head up as she flipped through  _Leadership for Dummies._ She yawned and looked at the other books she had collected. Two motivational books, three making-life-choices books, five stupid  _how to be a leader_ books that really were not helping.

She didn't need to know that you had to  _be charismatic_ or  _connect with your people_ or even  _take interest in the little things._ She needed to know  _how._

She knew that Blake had avoided her past, was still hiding many things from the rest of the team. She knew that Yang had abandonment issues, was really looking for Raven when she said she was 'partying'. And she knew Pyrrha had insecurities, was constantly afraid of her own fame.

But Areyn couldn't  _tell them that,_ not directly anyway, and she had always been bad at talking about  _feelings_ whatever that meant. Feelings were difficult, bad, something to be avoided.

The bell rang. Beacon Academy's bell sounded nothing like a bell. It was electronic, loud, and sharp.

Areyn scrambled to put the books away.

* * *

"You look like a shuttle ran over you," Weiss said flatly, taking a seat next to Areyn.  _Power in numbers,_ she had said the first time she sat next to Areyn,  _I can't stand the second-years and their, ugh, looks._

"Thanks," Areyn said. She squinted at her notes—which is new, the notes, she never  _used_ to take notes—and then the board. "Things happen."

"Hm. I heard there was an...accident of sorts?"

"We've been back in school for three days now. It took you that long?"

"Well, I was busy. A long weekend isn't an excuse to slack off," Weiss said, making a face. "Not for  _my_ team, at least."

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing. But nevermind my team. What about  _yours?_ Pyrrha?"

Areyn pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Pyrrha went back to Haven, something about celebrity matters or whatever." The redhead had come back dejected and in low-spirits, which hadn't gone well for group morale. "Yang went back home—I mean, you probably already know that—"

"No _,_ though Ruby did mail a  _dog_  to our dorm."

"—And Yang took Blake with her." Pfft, had Areyn been lonely? No, no— _really,_ she hadn't! It was good, you know, being  _alone_ again. Areyn paused, her train of thought halting. "Wait, Ruby mailed a  _dog?"_

"I don't want to talk about it," Weiss said steely.

Professor Peach burst into the classroom then, wearing what looked like a Venetian mask (which couldn't be it, because Venice didn't exist of Remnant) and a thick wool cloak with a hideous galaxy design.

"If you're wondering what the get-up is for," the Professor said, "It's to piss off Glynda!"

Weiss twitched and planted her face in her textbook.

* * *

"Where's Yang and Blake?" Areyn asked. She was trying to focus on her homework, she  _was_ , but she kept on looking out the window every few minutes— _waiting,_ hoping against  _reality._ If she tapped her pencil on the table another time, it might really break.

"In Vale," Pyrrha said, distracted.

Areyn looked up. Pyrrha was cleaning her weapons, which was normal enough, but she had been cleaning her weapons for the last hour—which was  _way_ off-schedule. "What? Not excited about the new people?"

"No, not particularly."

Well, that didn't do well for Areyn's confidence. "Ditto," she muttered.

"I'm just—I've become used to Vale's environment...people know me, yes, but most don't see me as a...an idol, I suppose. I...I like it here."

"Huh." Areyn looked out the window again, on impulse. Her eyes narrowed. "Hey look, first sign of landing." An airbus appeared on the horizon, descending.

Pyrrha's shoulders sagged. She stood up. "...Professor Goodwitch asked me to greet the new arrivals."

"The other Academies, huh?" An aircraft trailed behind the airbus, bearing Mistral's insignia, a symmetrical cyan lamp. Areyn's mouth pulled into a frown. "I heard it was something of an event."

"Yes. There will be a... _celebration_." Pyrrha stopped, added quickly, "It isn't mandatory, of course, you don't have to come."

There it was, the 'walk on eggshells around Areyn' thing. The others treated her like she was fragile now, like she could crack any minute. Areyn couldn't blame them, it was her fault, of course. Still…

Areyn glanced outside, steeled her nerves.  _Please, I'm better than that...right?_ _._ "I'll go. I have nothing else going on anyway."

* * *

It was late. The ballroom was crowded and noisy. The lights were put on neon. The music hurt Areyn's ears. Areyn wondered the brim of the room, keeping to herself and enjoying a glass of...punch or something, she didn't really care.

She had lost track of time a long time ago, made a game out of avoiding people and studying the competition. She'd failed at the avoiding people part.

"Look at that," Russell said, throwing an arm around Areyn. "Team SSSN, a bunch of muscles. Girls love them." He pointed at another team. "Team JINX, went up against SHDW last time and got their asses kicked. I heard their goal this year is just to beat SHDW." He turned Areyn around. "And see them? ZINC's a bunch of scientists and hippies—from Atlas, obviously, but they got pretty close in the 39th Tournament. And—"

"How barbarian." Sky flicked Russell on the head. "Team this, Team that." He turned to Areyn. "Don't listen to Russell, everyone knows the  _real_ tournament is between the kingdoms themselves."

Russell rolls his eyes. "Yeah, but some people want their tournaments simple,  _Sky._ Politics are boring."

Sky continued, ignoring Russell. "For example, I would bet Nikos was chosen as one of our representatives just to get a stab in at Haven. Vale never did get over those trade deals from a few years ago."

"Poor Pyrrha," Jaune said, scratching his head.

Areyn scanned the stage for Pyrrha. She nearly dropped her drink.  _When did they get here?!_

"Team CMSN," Russell said, following Areyn's eyes. "New to the game, but they wrecked the competition in the preliminary rounds at Haven."

"First-years?" Areyn asked, throat dry, swallowing.

"Yup. Better keep an eye on them, I heard they were dangerous."

Cinder Fall laughed and took a sip from a glass of clear red juice.

Areyn felt her stomach drop, felt the world fall away from her feet.

 _Cheers,_ Cinder said, smirking, and—

—she raised her glass to Pyrrha.

* * *

"Tukson's Book Trade," Yang read. She looked at Blake, eyebrow raised. "We could be celebrating the big entrance and you take me to a book shop."

"...This place isn't just a book shop, Yang. Tukson helped me escape the White Fang, he helps others too." Blake looked at the ground, kicked at the cement. "I owe him and—...I still need to repay him, as much as I can."

"Well, come on. Now I wanna meet this guy." Yang swung open the door.

The smell of blood hit Yang like a brick. She stood in the doorway, stunned. "Wha—"

Blake pulled Yang out of the way and ran inside, unsheathing Gambol Shroud. She spun, scanning the room.

"No…" Blake let Gambol Shroud clatter to the ground. She dropped to her knees. "No…"

"Blake?" Yang carefully stepped over the entrance. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness—everything came into light, the blood and—

—the  _body._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> I'm back!
> 
> Shattered Feelings - Volume II [RESPONSIBILITY]
> 
> START


	16. Just Keep Going

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY

* * *

"Did Yang and Blake finally decide to elope?"

"Areyn!" Pyrrha exclaimed.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean that...stuff just comes out of my mouth." Areyn sighed. Really, she shouldn't... _couldn't_ be treating this like a game, like a fake reality. She tapped her finger on the cafeteria table.  _Tap, tap, tap._ "I just...they didn't come back yesterday, they're  _still_ not back."

"You're worried."

"No. I mean, hm…"

"You're worried."

"I'm sure nothing  _bad_ happened." When had anything bad ever happened to them? Areyn thought drily. She was totally kidding herself.

Areyn swallowed her bacon, took another one off her tray and waved it at Pyrrha. "I don't know! What do  _you_ think? Should we tell someone, the authorities and stuff or whatever?"

Pyrrha yawned. There were bags under her eyes and Areyn wondered how long she'd had to stay up as a school representative. "I don't…" Pyrrha began, "I suppose…we should…"

"Dogs? I…like dogs. We like dogs, right Mercury?"

"We do?— _hey!_ I mean, sure."

Pyrrha looked over Areyn's shoulder, avoiding the question. "Well, I'm glad everyone is getting along," she said.

"Mhm...right." Areyn played with her pancakes, tried to avoid thinking about CMSN and RWRN hitting it off. It wasn't good for her mental health.

"Perhaps we should notify the authorities," Pyrrha decided. "Just in case."

"Mhm."

* * *

Professor Port laughed, said, "I would hardly worry, young girls! Teenagers are famously tardy!"

"Bu—" Areyn started. She shut her mouth, remembered the things  _she_ had done only a few years ago.

Maybe Yang and Blake got knocked out at Junior's Bar or something. Had one too many drinks. That happened.

(Not that Areyn even knew Blake drank, but hey, who knew what she had done in the White Fang?)

"You're probably right," Areyn admitted. Besides, it wasn't like her to worry so much. She was just still a little messed up from the...the Port action, that's all.

Professor Port shrugged and tugged on his mustache. "Though, of course, they'll be properly disciplined for their actions!" He laughed.

Areyn turned blankly and followed Pyrrha back to their seats. Professor Port stopped laughing, coughed, and began rambling about his childhood (as per usual).

It was fine. Everything was fine. Just.  _Fine._

* * *

"Man, it sure is crowded," Jaune said, squeezing pass some second-years and catching up to Areyn and Pyrrha. "I'm glad our classes aren't like this. What's up with that anyway? Y'know—our classes still being the same size even though we have more people."

"...Ah, as you might have noticed, Beacon is a—to put it mildly— _large_ campus," Pyrrha explained shyly, carefully. "Previously unused study halls are given to the students from the other academies—and they brought their professors as well."

"So they basically run themselves?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes."

"Then  _why_ do they have to be on the same floor?!" Areyn grumbled, shoving her hands in her pocket. She grabbed her scroll, wondering if she should text her missing-in-action teammates.

No, that was probably a bad idea. Areyn was already on Yang's bad side and she had no clue how much  _Blake_ liked her.

She had to keep it together. Make good impressions. Try not to look like a desperate, hapless idiot.

"—there's another team called ABRN," Jaune was telling Pyrrha. "But with a BR instead of a YN…"

Areyn tilted her head. "What yea—"

She froze and whipped around.

"Areyn?" Jaune asked, stopping.

"It's nothing. I'm just...just a little jumpy. Paranoid too, I guess."

Besides, who would spy on  _her?_

* * *

Yang stumbled into the cafeteria, looking like a dead (wo)man walking. The blonde barely managed to string words together to order lunch and she practically fell into her seat.

"..."

"..."

Pyrrha and Areyn exchanged  _looks._

Pyrrha set down her fork. "Yang…?"

"Fucking hell," Yang was muttering. She looked up, her eyes were bloodshot. "What?"

"Where have you...uh, been?"

"Custody."

" _Custody?_ " Pyrrha breathed sharply.

"Oh, don't worry. It wasn't  _us_ who did the murdering," Yang told Pyrrha with a wave of her hand.

"What," Areyn said, face blank. Yang's hand shook a little bringing her mash potato to her mouth. The blonde stared at her food sourly.

"...Right," Pyrrha managed. "So where's Blake?"

"Back at the dorm. Where  _I'll_  be going as soon as this conversation is over."

Touché, Areyn thought.

Yang stood up, threw her tray in a garbage can, rubbed her head. Her irises had turned red and she swayed on her feet.

"We can help, Yang," Pyrrha said, genuine. "If you or Blake need anything—"

"I don't know.  _I don't know._ I just—what type of people go around killing people like it's nothing?! I hate it. I hate it, okay? And I'm sick of them and people ruining other people's lives because they can't think of anything besides themselves!"

Yang stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Well, that just happened," Russell said, his pasta sliding off his fork.

""No one asked, Russell,"" Areyn and Jaune said in synchrony.

Areyn suddenly felt a lot less hungry.

* * *

"...the advantages of hosting the Vytal Festival is evident," Professor Goodwitch said, walking back and forth on stage. "We're able to postpone the  _preliminary rounds_  until  _absolutely necessary._ We have time on our side  _and_ while we know the competing teams from our rival academies, they do not know the competing team from  _ours._

Goodwitch stopped pacing, stood behind the microphone, and said, "Remember what is important. Ability, maturity, perseverance, responsibility,  _cooperation._ Together, you are greater than the sum of your parts. Together you may achieve more than you could ever imagine. Make the right choices, make the right decisions.

"Preliminary rounds begin next week. Come prepared, be ready, and...good luck."

The bell rang.

* * *

"Next week?! Next week?!" Russell screamed, once they're all cleared from the auditorium. "Jaune, we don't—we have to train for this crap!"

"I know, I know, I'm  _thinking._  Making battle plans."

"Battle plans, he says," Sky said, spreading his hands.

"...We're doomed," Dove expressed.

Areyn let JSBR do the external panicking, she was too busy  _internally_ panicking. She'd been doing her best training since the docks but...improving was  _hard_ and she just  _wasn't getting it._ Pyrrha was okay, Pyrrha was excellent, in fact, but—

—Yang clearly had other priorities and Blake did too. If Blake began worrying about the White Fang now (and she had every right to be), then she was  _not fine_ to.

They could bomb the preliminary rounds, but it was a grade and—and Areyn didn't want to  _not care_ and fail anymore. She couldn't, she  _didn't want to fall down that rabbit hole again._

Besides, ABYN didn't need to get themselves into trouble outside of Beacon, did they? As long as they stayed out of it, as long as Areyn cared about the stuff she was supposed to, it didn't concern them. It really, really didn't.

Really—

* * *

"We're leaving," Yang said, throwing Areyn and Pyrrha masks. "We're going to get to the bottom of thi—"

"Yang, What is going on?" Pyrrha looked at Blake. "Blake?"

Blake barely acknowledged Pyrrha. She strapped on her mask, sluggish, looking like she was only minutes from falling apart.

Areyn looked down at her mask. It reminded her of the one Professor Peach wore the other day. A not-Venetian Venetian mask. "You're going to find the murderer," she realized.

"And bring him to justice, give him what he deserves."

Areyn hesitated. She said, "You can't—"

Yang was already halfway through the window. "Pyrrha said that you guys would help," she said, "What was that, empty words?"

Areyn felt blood rush to her ears. "No," she decided. "But right now,  _you_ and  _Blake_ are the only people that aren't helping. You can barely stand right and you want to go catch a murderer?! Besides, Pyrrha and I still have no idea what's going on. At least do us a favor and fill us in, dammit!"

Areyn was surprised by the defiance in her own voice. She was used to going with the flow and being pushed around. This wasn't it. This really wasn't it and she didn't know what she was doing. "We leave tomorrow," she decided.

Pyrrha opened her mouth.

"I  _know_ it's a Friday and we have school," Areyn said before Pyrrha can point it out. "It's a compromise. We're compromising here." She looked at Yang. "Tomorrow, we leave tomorrow. We'll help,  _tomorrow._ Deal?"

Yang grunted, disgruntled. "Fine. Whatever."

Areyn set her mask on her nightstand. She shoved her hands in her pockets, hoped that no one will notice—

—she's shaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
>  Life and school are getting hectic, so short chapter. I'll respond to comments next week, see ya!


	17. Act Like You Know What You're Doing

 

It went something like this:

Pyrrha shook Areyn awake at the  _crack of dawn_ (better Pyrrha than Yang throwing her off her bed, Areyn decided). Areyn grumbled profanities, barely awake, and fumbled for her things. She was beginning to regret sleeping until noon back on Earth. Areyn was beginning to regret a lot of things she'd done back on Earth, if she was being completely honest. She almost forgot her scroll, only remembered on her way out, and had to run back into the dorm. She contemplated staying—pretending she suddenly got a life-threatening fever or something. She knocked the thought out of her mind, locked the door behind her, and followed her teammates down the hallway.

They walked out of Beacon.

It really was that simple, Areyn marveled.

"You just need to act like you know what the hell you're doing," Yang explained on the way. "That's the important part—'cuz people won't risk embarrassing themselves by getting things about some random stranger wrong."

"...Interesting?" Pyrrha said, concerned. "Is that—"

"How I get into places I shouldn't be getting into?"

"Well, yes."

"Yup."

Blake hummed. She didn't look very surprised or impressed, a flat expression on her face.

Pyrrha walked onto Docking Bay 2. She frowned, stopped her hand reaching for the registration panel, "Wouldn't the school know we've skipped class—"

"We skip class all the time," Yang said reasonably.

"Yang, that's hardly a viable reasoning—" Pyrrha swiped her scroll across the panel. It blinked red. "It seems we can't use the shuttles anyway..."

"Because the professors aren't idiots and locked the system on school hours?" Areyn wondered unhelpfully. Her damn mouth again. She frowned. "...You guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Yang asked, her eyebrow arched.

"A shuttle," Blake muttered.

Spotlights hit Docking Bay 4. The sound of turbines grew louder.

"What should we do?" Pyrrha asked. "Should we—...hide?"

"Yeah, I think it's a little too late for that," Areyn told her. "What did Yang say? Act like you know what the hell you're doing?" Areyn straightened and coughed into her fist...repeatedly. Pyrrha leaned on the registration panel awkwardly. Blake stood still, looking bored. Yang facepalmed.

The shuttle landed, sending smoke into the air. A ramp slid out of the vehicle. "This is ridiculous, Ruby. We're never going to get our homework done, Nora is overdosed on caffeine—"

"Hehehehe, hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!~"

"—Ren fell asleep on the way back, and you're—well, you're a mess."

"Thaaaaaaanks, Weiss~ You're even snippier than usual!"

" _Ugh,_ I'm surrounded by idiots."

Yang was halfway to Team RWRN before Areyn even noticed. She stared at the spot the blonde had been only seconds ago. "Um…"

Blake trailed after Yang.

Areyn sighed. "Let's go, Pyrrha. Weiss likes you, so maybe she  _won't_ report us."

Pyrrha blinked. "She— _what?_ "

Ah, to be so oblivious, Areyn thought. She sure envied Pyrrha sometimes (besides the fact that Pyrrha was almost perfect, but that was really beside the point, wasn't it?).

"Yang?" Ruby was asking. She slurred her words and looked out from under a mess of hair. Her cape was tangled and dirty. "I thought—um...what time is it again?"

"Around five," Weiss said, unimpressed and eyebrow raised.

"Thanks, Weiss! U-Um...it sure is...early," Ruby said awkwardly.

Yang glared, her arms crossed. " _It_   _sure is._ And what do you think you're doing—"

Areyn side-stepped between Yang and Ruby. She forced on a winning smile, felt the awkward tension. Red seeps into her cheeks. "Uh— _ahem—_ Yang  _means,_ can we take your shuttle?"

Yang frowned. "Wha—"

Blake glared at Yang. Yang shut her mouth. Still, a vexed expression crossed her face.

Ruby blinked and scratched her cheek. She yawned. "I mean, I guess…?"

"I don't think that's allowed," Weiss said flatly.

Pyrrha smiled warmly, a hand on Areyn's shoulder. "It would be of  _great_  help."

"...I'm sure whatever you're doing is important," Weiss decided.

Nora slammed into Weiss. "Heeeeeeeere areeeeee da keyyyyyyyys~" She hiccuped. "Oh wait! There aren't keys! Hahahahahhahaha!"

"Sorry," Ren said. He courtesied and dragged Nora away by the ear.

"Welllllll, we really need sleep," Ruby said quickly. "Have fun! Let's go, Weiss!"

"None of us are getting any sleep until we finish our  _work!"_ Weiss shrieked, running after Ruby.

Areyn watched them leave. "What a bunch of crackheads," she muttered,  _almost_ fondly. Yes, Areyn decided, she was more scared than fond.

"We have a shuttle now," Blake observed, stating the obvious. She glanced at Yang.

Yang harrumphed. "Yeah, well, you guys could've let me talked to Ruby more."

"You were reprimanding her," Pyrrha corrected.

"Because she shouldn't be out here this early." Yang walked onto the shuttle. "She'd better not be neglecting her school work…"

Pot, meet kettle, Areyn thought wryly. She said, "Well, we sure are, aren't we?"

"Please don't remind me," Pyrrha pleaded.

* * *

Junior's Bar wasn't crowded as much as it was deserted. The DJ stand had been cleared and the few stragglers from the night before all looked too drunk to form proper sentences. Junior—big guy, Areyn thought nervously—was cleaning his wine glasses and putting them back in the right places.

Junior looked up to greet them when the bell rang, signaling the arrival of new customers. His face immediately sours. The Malachite twins threw their poker cards on their table and stood up.

"Junior!—" Yang began, trying to make her voice cheerful. It came out a bit strangled. "How's the bar?"

"Quiet," Junior said flatly. "Until you came walking through that door." He sighed and set down the glass he had been polishing. "What do you want  _this time,_ kid?"

"I want a lot of things," Yang said, striding towards Junior confidently—she acted like a completely different person than the moody and somber person she had been in the shuttle. "But today is your lucky day...I only  _need_ one thing."

The Malachite twins let her pass. Melanie huffed and sat back down. Militia picked up her poker cards.

Areyn, Pyrrha, and Blake followed Yang—they were all  _much less_ enthusiastic.

"Teenagers these days," Junior grumbled. "All a bunch of  _demanding crackheads._ "

Areyn arched an eyebrow. Now  _this_  was a reasonable old guy.

Junior slid a drink to Yang before she even sat down.

"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice, and with the little umbrella? Why, you  _remembered!"_ Yang said appreciatively. She fished lien cards out of her pocket and threw them at Junior.

Junior grimaced. "Kind of hard  _not to,_ blondie." His expression soured even more. "And you brought  _friends."_

Areyn didn't feel very comfortable sitting down at the counter then. She fidgeted in her seat.

"Wait, I  _know_ you," Junior said. He squinted at Pyrrha. "Mistralian Champion and celebrity or something right?

Pyrrha went rigid.

"What, you didn't notice last time?" Yang asked. She took the strawberry off her drink and dropped it in her mouth.

"Hey, don't blame  _me._ I was too busy dealing with you and your mommy-issu—mmph!"

" _Not—another—word_ ," Yang growled. She'd sprung off her seat, grabbed a handful of Junior's shirt, and covered his mouth.

Junior wheezed, "Yes, ma'am—!"

" _Yang,_ " Pyrrha said, disapproving. "We do not use violence in that manner. It's demeaning."

"You're not my—" Yang cut herself off. She dropped Junior and sat back down, eyes blazing.

Junior fixed his tie and suit. "And what about you?" he asked Blake. "I feel like I've seen you around before...somewhere."

Blake tried for a nonchalant shrug. Instead, she ended up making herself smaller and slouching uncomfortably.

"Alright, enough is enough. Stop bothering my teammates, Junior," Yang said.

"Damn, I was trying to drag that on as long as possible."

"Yeah, I guessed." Yang pulled out her scroll. She slid it over to Junior's side.

Junior picked up the scroll. He read, "Tukson Sterling, owner of Tukson's Book Trade, murdered in his own store at approximately nine-thir…" Junior trailed off and looked at Yang. "Where are you going with this?"

"Who did it, Junior? I want to know  _who did it."_

* * *

"Abandoned warehouse, huh?" Areyn said, craning her neck. The noon sun was up and Areyn wondered if maybe the drab grey warehouse would've looked a lot spookier at night. "Funsies."

Pyrrha gave her a blank look. "Fun...sies?"

"It's an expression.

Areyn was really trying to make light of a bad situation (trespassing in order to find maybe-murderers) here. See, there was a pretty big sign that read 'NO TRESPASSING' and it gave her bad feelings.

"What makes this one so special?" Blake asked flatly.

"Yeah," Areyn said, raising a finger, "There are  _literally—_ well, maybe not literally—hundreds of other identical warehouses."

Yang scanned the warehouse, made note of its condition—old and in desperate need of repairs, and its surroundings—in between other identical warehouses. She made a running jump and leaped over the fence. Yang landed on the ground with a thump, kicking dust into the air.

"Well, let's find out," she said.


	18. You Say Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

"It's been emptied out." Blake leaned against the wall of the warehouse, arms crossed.

" _Or,_ it was never filled in the first place…" Areyn scratched her cheek. She crouched and stared at the floor.

"What should we be looking for?" Pyrrha wondered, searching the shelves.

"Anything," Yang answered. "Just...look more  _closely?"_

"I'm looking as close as possible…" Areyn put her head on the ground, shut one eye, and looked closely.

Yang pulled open and slammed closed drawers. She moved on to the next desk. "Not the  _floor,_ you idiot."

"Sorry, sorry. Just tired." Areyn sighed and stood up. She'd been  _just tired_ since  _two weeks ago,_ it really wasn't much of an excuse  _now._ "How long have we been looking now? And by we, I mean everyone besides Blake—sorry, Blake but you look like you're doing less than  _me."_

"I  _am_  looking," Blake said flatly. "...It's smarter to gain perspective."

"Huh. Really?"

"Occasionally."

"Occasionally?"

"Not at the moment."

"Right."

"…"

"Wait a second, wha—"

Yang grabbed a drawer and pulled. It slid straight out of the table, sending Yang stumbling backward. She dropped the drawer.  _Clack!_ The sound of the drawer hitting the floor bounced off the walls of the warehouse like thunder. Yang made a frustrated sound. "I swear it wasn't me, I used the same amount of force—"

_Click._

Blake stiffened. She angled her head. In seconds, she was at Yang's side and examining the table. "...We need to move."

"Move—" Yang started.

Blake shoved her hand in the hole the drawer had left in the table. She ripped something out, a small device blinking red. "Silent alarms. You were right, this warehouse  _was_ important."

"Great, so who is it  _alarming_   _to?"_ Yang asked.

"I suggest not finding out."

Areyn faltered in her steps. Her head pounded. She shook herself back to reality, said, "No, we came here to find out things in the first place. I suggest hiding— _far away_ would be a good start—and waiting."

Pyrrha nodded. "Perhaps out of the building—"

"Great idea, Pyrrha. Let's get out of here ASAP—" Areyn said enthusiastically.

Then the warehouse blew up.

Though maybe blew up wasn't the right term as much as 'a fiery fireball rocketed through the roof and blew a crater in the floor'.

The impact sent Areyn slamming into a wall. She hunched over and coughed up black tar. Her eyes dilated and her vision swam.  _Stay in control, I have to stay in control._

"Now what do we have here?"

Areyn knew that voice.

She'd heard it before, on Earth. She'd heard it only a few days ago, raising a glass with Pyrrha.

_Stay in control, I have to stay in control._

"I spy with my little eyes... _rats_ in my cellar. How...  _revolting_." Cinder Fall wore black, eyes covered by a mask.

Areyn was very glad for her own mask then and there, for her identity and her  _emotions._

"Who the hell are  _you?"_ Yang growled, standing up. "What do you think you're doing in Vale, you murdering basta—"

Cinder snapped her fingers and fire burst from the tips of her hand. She flicked her arms—the fire became arrows and shot for Yang.

Yang held up her arms—her aura flickered into existence around her. The fire arrows still knocked her off the ground and into the wall.

"Yang!" Pyrrha screamed. Her spear appeared in her hand, lengthened to its extent. Her eyes flickered between Yang and Cinder.

"P-Pyrrha, don't—" Areyn coughed again. Her damn body was killing her— _slowly._ "W-We—j-just  _run._ " She staggered forward. "B-Blake,  _help Yang."_

Blake's eyes were wide, her stance on edge. She nodded without a word and helped Yang out of the rubble.

"Running away? Oh, no, I don't think so—not until after I'm done with you~" Cinder strides forward, fingertip on fire. "Perhaps that will even teach you to  _never cross my path_ again."

"W-We'd gladly," Areyn said. "R-Really if I had a choice…" She edged toward the exit, facing Cinder. She hoped the rest of her team were behind her. They were far more important, they mattered more than a worthless nobody who shouldn't be there in the first place.

"So you say." Cinder waved her hand. Areyn felt the heat feets away. "Yet  _again_ and  _again, some people_ just continue to  _get in the way._ It's a pain and I hate it—therefore, the problem will be eliminated as I see fit."

"What are you, an egotist?" Areyn blurted. She clamped her mouth shut.  _Fuck._ "Run!"

"Amusing." Cinder raised her hand and summoned fire. She swung.

Areyn felt it coming—she felt the fire sear into her back. Her healing kicked in too late for her liking, if she could even comprehend it by that point.

She ran. She ignored the flames and ran.

"Move!"

"Bu—"

Areyn shoved Pyrrha through the doors. Blake and Yang were waiting—they shouldn't have waited.

"Ghh…" Black flickered through Areyn's vision. Her body ran through motions without her control. She was losing it. She deeply regretted life choices then—but when did she ever  _not_ regret?

"Areyn, are you—"

"Do I look fine to you, Pyrrha!?" Areyn sapped. She groaned and rubbed her face. "Just move."

"Who is that lady?!" Yang asked. They were running again and Areyn was hoping to the high heavens that Cinder forgot how to fucking  _fly._

Areyn pretended not to hear Yang. She couldn't deal with her now. She didn't really know what to do.

"What the hell, she's flying!" Yang said. "That's not a thing!"

"Question reality later, run now," Blake muttered.

"Yeah? Well, I have another question: How do we out run  _flying?"_

"There! Cover!" Areyn said. Blake took the lead, making a sliding turn pass the corner of a warehouse and underneath a canopy. Yang followed. Areyn made it last.

There was no way she was letting Cinder anywhere  _near_ Pyrrha.

"We can't run forever," Yang said, stopping, "We need to fight—"

"That's...that's a horrible idea," Areyn gasped for breath.

Blake nodded. "We don't know what she's capable of."

"Well it's better than running around like chickens with their damn heads cut o—mmph!"

Pyrrha covered Yang's mouth. They all tense as the sound of rapid footsteps approach.

Figures, resembling  _Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, and Areyn_ ran pass the canopy—or  _something_ that looked like them anyway, it might have been even an... _illusion._

Cinder followed in the air, flying after the figures.

For seconds, no one spoke.

"What—" Yang began.

"—was  _that?"_  Areyn finished dully.

"Maybe," Blake said, tilting her head and looking down the worned-out path, "it has something to do with  _her."_

The multicolored mute with the umbrella only smiled and waved.


	19. Record Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY

"This is awkward," Areyn said, because it really was. She tried to ignore the sound of adrenaline—the way she felt on edge even looking at Neo, her body getting ready to  _flee as soon as freaking possible._

Neo made patterns and gestures with her hand—the one not holding an umbrella (Neo was swinging that umbrella around, as if she was trying to make Areyn feel even more not-okay  _on purpose)._

Areyn glanced back at the warehouses. She kept on doing that, like she was worried Cinder might appear again any second now and  _really_ end things. (Areyn was  _paranoid,_ but she could pretend she wasn't).  _Besides,_ any second now, they'd enter the Commercial District and they'd all be home free—even crazy psycho Cinder Fall wouldn't cause a scene there.

Pyrrha, who had apparently taken Mistralian Sign Language in Junior High (a little factoid Areyn  _did not_ put much faith in), was far,  _far_ behind whatever Neo was saying. "It's like if an adult was talking to a  _three-year old,"_ Pyrrha told Areyn, "I can try, but I'm not picking up most of the words."

Neo flipped them the bird. Yang responded in kind.

"Well," Areyn said, "Look on the bright side. Most of those words probably aren't that kid-friendly anyway."

"Yes, but she  _is_ trying to tell us something—"

"To shove it?"

" _Areyn."_

"Sorry."

" _As I was saying,_ It's only polite that we...try to communicate with her."

"Pyrrha," Areyn said flatly, "She tried to murder us. Also, she stole your money."

"Well—that—" Pyrrha sputtered, "I mean—it was  _gambling_ , things...happen...right?"

"I talk about bodily harm and all you get out of it is that you should expect to lose cash when you gamble—which isn't even true, by the way."

" _Speaking of_ bodily harm, Areyn—"

Neo turned abruptly and stormed into that bakery Jaune had dragged them to a while ago, Baker's Dream or whatever. Areyn didn't care, it gave her the chance to walk out of  _that_ conversation with Pyrrha—she hadn't liked where Pyrrha was going. At all.

Neo waved at the cashier, who suddenly looked like he was scared out of his depths. It was a bakery, not a restaurant, and Neo found a table and sat. She set her umbrella on the side of her chair, crossed her legs, and with a flick of her hand, a scroll appeared.

Areyn blinked. She checked her pockets. "Hey…! That's my—when did you even—"

She felt scandalized—she loved her scroll. It was...probably Areyn's most valuable possession in Vale.

"Give it back…" Areyn said, ignoring how she practically  _whined._

Neo threw Areyn's scroll at her. Areyn fumbled to catch her precious device and somehow managed to slide into a chair in the process.  _Ping!_ went her scroll.

_Neopolitan (10:51 a.m): I've decided._

Well, that was vague, Areyn thought.

"She's texting?" Yang asked, impatient. She glared at Neo. "Why couldn't you have done that  _sooner?"_

Blake didn't sit, she stood and  _frowned._ Areyn didn't think much of it—typical moody Blake, really. (That was an oversimplification. Areyn knew Blake was going through a lot but...Blake didn't make it easy for people to try and talk.)

Pyrrha ordered food.

_Neopolitan (10:54 a.m): I'm hungry._

She shrugged.

"Get to the point," Yang said, pulling up a chair. "I don't like the idea of spending time with a  _murderer_  longer than I need to."

Areyn tilted her head, remembered the girl with dark pigtails and green eyes, the one that had made the number on Cinder's team 'four' and not 'three'. She decided Yang didn't need to know, was best off not knowing, and definitely better off not finding out from Areyn.

_Neopolitan (10:55 a.m): The warehouse was a destination—blondie over here is obsessed with revenge, isn't she?_

"I am  _not—"_ Yang began indigitantly.

 _Neopolitan (10:56 a.m): I don't mind, not really. As long as you_ are  _trying to bring the murderer to justice._

Pyrrha returned with breakfast. The only person that began eating was Neo.

_Neopolitan (10:56 a.m): Her name is Cinder Fall._

"Cin—" Yang said.

Neo kicked Yang in the leg. Her eyes darted around the bakery.

Pyrrha had been ripping up pieces of bread—she stopped. "I know that name...She's the leader of Team CMSN, from Mistral."

Areyn took some bread from Pyrrha. "Well,  _if_ she is the murderer, what does she want?"

Areyn knew, of course. Still, no one had to know she knew and know one had to  _interrogate_ her about it. Besides, what could she say?  _Cinder is a sociopath. She works for the literal Queen of Grimm—who, by the way, isn't a fairy tale!_ They'd all think her insane or worse, a  _spy._

 _Neopolitan (10:57 a.m): Something or some_ one,  _I don't know and I don't care._

Blake raised an eyebrow.

Neo snorted. She leaned closer to Yang and showed the blonde her scroll.

 _Neopolitan (10:58 a.m): Doesn't really matter anyway, not when I_ do  _know that she'll do anything to get it._

_Neopolitan (10:58 a.m): She'll even burn Beacon to the ground._

_Neopolitan (10:58 a.m): I take that back. She's counting_   _on it._

"What do you get from telling us?" Blake asked, the first time she'd spoken in the entire conversation. Her eyes narrowed. "What do you  _want_?"

"To help?" Pyrrha suggested.

"People like her don't  _help,"_ Blake spat. Pyrrha frowned.

Neo played with her silverware. She tilted her head and a shark-like smile appeared.

_Neopolitan (11:00 a.m): I want to see Cinder's world fall apart. I want her to watch it crumble around her feet. I want her to feel the same ways I did when she—well, it doesn't matter._

Neo shrugged then, the picture of nonchalance.

_Neopolitan (11:00 a.m): Besides, what's wrong with a little revenge?_

* * *

Neo disappeared shortly after, citing meetings she can't miss and covers she had to keep up. Her farewell was a promise they'd meet again sometime soon and a suggestion to investigate one  _Cinder Fall_ in their free time.

Blake stormed out of the bakery.

Yang jumped out of her seat and followed. "Where do you think  _you're_ going—"

Areyn suddenly felt very,  _very_ tired. Her fingers twitched and she buried her face into her hands.

"Criminals...in Beacon of all places," Pyrrha murmured, looking pale.

"I think they're a little worse than criminals, Pyrrha," Areyn said. She had a hard time keeping the sarcasm out of her voice.

"We have to stop them, Areyn—"

"Come on, it's hardly any of  _our_ business—"

"But  _it is._ We are the only ones who know, and now…? Now if Beacon falls, it  _will_ be  _our_ fault." Pyrrha's voice is resolute, steady if not happy, the paragon of  _heroism._ Areyn hated it.

"...I didn't sign up for this crap," Areyn muttered. "I didn't even sign up to be a Huntress." Why, she wondered, couldn't she have become a shopkeeper or a farmer or something mundane and  _normal_ in Remnant? Why did she appeared in the Emerald Forest, why  _there?_

"Then  _why are you here?"_ Pyrrha asked sharply. "Did you—did you not take the ideals of Huntsmen seriously? Join Beacon for a—a  _joke_ of some sort?"

Expressions flirted through Pyrrha's face and—Areyn swallowed. She had never seen Pyrrha  _mad,_ but then, there, the red-head was edging close to it.

"I don't know how I got into the Emerald Forest," Areyn blurted. "I fell asleep and I—I just  _appeared."_

She soldiered on, ignoring Pyrrha's incredulous expression. "Stop it—I know that sounds ridiculous, like I'm  _making things up as I go,_ but, you know what, it doesn't even matter!" Areyn snorted. "Ozpin wanted me there, at Beacon. I wondered why, for a long time, but I think I have an idea now." She'd had that idea for two weeks.

Areyn looked down at the table, at her hands. In a small voice, she said, "It's my goddamned Semblance—I mean, Pyrrha, do you even know— _how useful it is to have an unbreakable human meat shield?_ Listen to me talk, it's pathetic but it's  _true—_ I'm not a hero, a—a paragon or whatever.  _I don't want to get hurt over and over again,_ I don't want to  _die_ over and over again—but, dammit, I don't have a  _choice_. Beacon is all I've got…"

Areyn realized it then.

"I have nothing else."

Pyrrha watched her with pity.

* * *

"Blake— _What the hell is wrong with you?"_ Yang seethed. She catches up to the brunette easily. Blake wasn't trying to run, not really, but Yang  _was_ trying to catch up. "You're  _super_ unhelpful,  _always_ moody, generally a pain in the a—"

Blake turned on her. They're standing on a sidewalk and bright daylight. People passed, they looked, and Yang wanted nothing more than to tell them to  _shove it._

"Tukson was a part of the  _White Fang,_ Yang," Blake snarled.

"So?—"

"Why would Cinder Fall—a  _human_ psychopath—want to murder someone from the White Fang?"

"I—um…"

"Neo is lying," Blake said flatly. "Or the White Fang has become something much  _much_ worse than I remember."

Her breath is shaky. "And I know who'd be responsible."

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Ah, self-inserts, the ultimate love/hate relationships. Let’s see how this works out! I’d like to avoid as many bad self-insert tropes as possible, so if anyone has any they particularly detest, put it in a review/comment!
> 
> And for the record, I know Arryn is the name of Blake’s voice actress. I can’t help it, it’s a good name. 
> 
> ~ See ya!
> 
> Twitter Plug: @aroszjoker (If you want to get in contact for any reason.)


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